NCJ Number
191348
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 63 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2001 Pages: 98-101
Editor(s)
Susan L. Clayton
Date Published
2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article examines the increasing restrictions on media access to correctional agencies.
Abstract
With 2 million Americans behind bars, and correctional systems spending more than $30 billion annually, prisons and jails should be a frequent subject of news coverage. However, such coverage is sporadic. While some media outlets do not aggressively pursue stories about correctional issues, a more serious problem is what appears to be an increasing series of restrictions on media access imposed by correctional agencies. Nine states have barred face-to-face media interviews with inmates. Journalists contend that such bans do not serve the public interest. Corrections administrators often cite security concerns. These concerns should be taken seriously, but journalists have long been admitted to institutions without causing major problems. Another widely heard criticism is that the media is interested only in “bad” news, such as riots, disturbances, escapes, and brutality. Such episodes are newsworthy by historic standards, but they will be covered one way or another after the disturbance becomes public. A correctional system that attempts to shut down all media access with the hope of minimizing bad publicity may find unfavorable stories are the only ones that end up being reported because they are the only ones accessible to journalists. Some corrections officials resist inmate interviews, citing victim concern that the resulting stories will glorify inmates. Journalists propose that news media should have wide access to correctional institutions—and that can be good for the justice system and society. As Detroit journalist Jack Kresnak put it, “Offenders can provide the public, through its surrogates in the news media, with valuable and valid information about conditions in prisons.”