In today’s digest is a short preview story looking at the first-ever conference dedicated to strengthening U.S. prison journalism, led by incarcerated journalists at a time when governmental threats to journalism are developing parallels to the censorship journalists on the inside face just to tell stories about their conditions. (It’s happening tomorrow and Saturday in Chicago and is free to attend, though pre-registration is required.)
An abbreviated version of our media links is on Instagram each week, focusing on what a handful of those stories say about how power and identity impact journalism. (Previous week’s here.)
—James Salanga
MASS INCARCERATION & POLICING
Incarcerated journalists lead first-ever conference on strengthening U.S. prison journalism
Photo credits, clockwise starting from left: Screenshot from an Inquest Q&A with Christopher Blackwell; excerpt of an issue of The Prison News via JSTOR archives; the collected author photos for John J. Lennon, Phillip Vance Smith II, Blackwell, and Kwaneta Harris; the headline for the Bridging the Gap conference program, courtesy of Haymarket Books.
For years, Christopher Blackwell attended journalism conferences the only way he could: calling in remotely from prison. But during a conversation with Dana Blanchard of Haymarket Books, Blackwell realized out loud that they were never led by and including incarcerated journalists.
It may have been an off-hand comment, but Blanchard said they’d make it happen. And now, it is.
Bridging the Gap, the first-of-its-kind conference dedicated to strengthening journalism about and in U.S. prisons, led by incarcerated writers themselves, is happening May 29 and 30 in Chicago.
Changing the kinds of stories that are told about U.S. prisons and mass incarceration, Blackwell said, must include incarcerated journalists, who are “reporting from behind enemy lines.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING
A bit more media
⚖ Columbia Journalism Review interviewed Abortion, Every Day founder Jessica Valenti about the weird “trade publication” she now runs with the help of Kylie Chung on abortion policy in America. She says there is this perception that abortion is still a controversial topic, and that the pro-choice stance is not the majority. She says “both-sides” coverage just contributes to this false narrative.
📔 Style guide suppression: Claudia Gohn and Shubhanjana Das cover how Western media bias around covering Palestine and genocide has been perpetuated by major newsrooms’ style standards and adherence to AP Stylebook guidelines. “I feel that it’s almost disrespectful to … go to these outlets and have to distort all of the language they [sources in Gaza and the West Bank] have used while talking to me,” freelance journalist Neha Madhira said.
📺 Six months ago, Sharyn Alfonsi’s segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled by CBS News’ editor in chief Bari Weiss. This week, after her agents were met with silence by newsroom leaders, the network let Alfonsi’s contract expire. “I think it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize accurate reporting,” Alfonsi told the New York Times.
✊ The Idaho and Washington News Guilds went on a one-day strike on Tuesday, May 26. They have filed charges against McClatchy over its bad-faith bargaining for living wages.
🤖 Meanwhile, the NewsGuild of New York is filing two grievances and an unfair labor practice charge against the New York Times on behalf of the New York Times Tech Guild. The union has accused the Times of violating their contract by using AI programs to surveil performance of union members, and failing to notify them.
🗻 FOLLOW-UP: The Seattle Times Union has continued its talks with management around the use of generative AI in reporting. While the union says there has been some progress, it’s also posted to their Instagram page to say that management continues to say if it would replace other, non-reporting jobs with AI, like graphic designers or copy editors.
🗳 FOLLOW-UP: The Associated Press will provide its U.S. election results to OpenAI. This comes after layoffs by the AP two weeks ago as the company restructures away from print.
Have a story you think we should include in this section of next week’s newsletter? Let us know here or by responding to this email.
JOURNALISM IN A GRAF
Quote of the week
“There is still this really untrue and toxic idea that abortion is a controversial issue and that the country is irrevocably split on this issue and that people really disagree and that the country is really polarized.”
This issue is by James Salanga and Marlee Baldridge. Thanks for reading. We’ll have more for you next week.
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