Prison newspaper

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Prisoners' newspapers are magazines whose articles are written by prisoners and designed by editorial offices whose members live in custody. The thematic spectrum ranges from cooking recipes and crossword puzzles to reports from everyday prison life in which, among other things, prisoners' expectations of a humane prison system are formulated. These publications are created in the area of ​​tension between (restricted) freedom of expression , efforts to rehabilitate and the security interests of the prison administrations. Some of the contributions can be counted as prisoner literature. A subgroup of the prisoner's newspapers are the camp newspapers for prisoners of war, which were produced in various countries, especially during the First World War (e.g. "The Island Week", which was printed by German soldiers in the French camp Ile Longue in France 1914-1919).

history

The first prison magazine ("Forlorn Hope") was founded in 1800 by an inmate in New York City Penitentiary Prison , but closed after six months. In 1883 the management of the New York State Reformatory in Elmira founded the magazine The Summary , on which prisoners worked. It found many imitators, so that in one of the few published studies from the USA, well over 200 titles were counted for the year 1967 (Baird 1967).

As the first German newspaper for prisoners, Der gute Freund was produced in southern Germany from 1901 in the form of an annual calendar. From 1904 onwards, Der Kompass was published every two weeks , also in southern Germany. Prisoners were not involved in these and other printed products such as Blick in die Welt (1921–1935), Welt und Leben (1922–1935) and The Lighthouse (1925ff.). An exception was Die Brücke , which was produced in the Thuringian reform institute Untermaßfeld from 1928 and integrated into prison self-administration. It was discontinued in 1932. During the time of National Socialism , the Prussian publication Der Leuchtturm was elevated to the status of the only newspaper for prisoners of the Reich and was distributed in German prisons and prison camps from 1935 by the editorship of the Ministry of Justice . It should serve the national political education. The cooperation of prisoners was not intended.

In the United States, prison newspapers were most widely distributed from 1939 to 1960; however, they have hardly existed since then. From the 1950s onwards, the prison press flourished in Canada. In Germany, too, their number increased after 1945 (cf. Joerger 1971; Klein 1992; Kreißl 2007).

organization

As diverse as the range of these magazines is, just as diverse is the way in which they are organized. In a few cases they are organized from the outside and are therefore only to a limited extent or not at all to be regarded as prisoner magazines in the true sense. The “Aufschluss” in Leipzig, which the AK Resozialisierung e. V. publishes.

Far more common are those prisoner magazines that are created by prisoners for prisoners and only find a (limited) readership outside the prison . A distinction must be made here between sheets that are kept almost independently by the prisoners and those that are co-determined by the prison. There are many gradations between these two areas, which can range from cooperation with a prison employee assigned for this purpose to content control by the prison management (namely in their role as the publisher).

Many prisoners' magazines have external supporters, namely in the form of an association that can be responsible for connecting with the public , for raising donations , and possibly also for advertising management, etc.

The prison newspaper of the Herford JVA ("Popshop") has been produced jointly by prisoners and students from "outside" since it was founded.

Freedom of the press and censorship

The vast majority of periodicals of this type are subject to institutional law . The press law therefore only applies in part. For the employees they are therefore " censored and dependent". There is a preliminary censorship by the responsible officer, which can lead to individual articles not being released for printing. Only a few editorial offices (e.g. Lichtblick, Berlin) have an editorial status that guarantees them a certain degree of internal press freedom. This is no guarantee against censorship, since the institution, in its strong position as printer, owner or publisher, can prevent the publication of "its" prisoner magazine at any time.

Old and new media

The external appearance of the prison press is characterized by great diversity. Many prisoner magazines are still written on mechanical typewriters and reproduced using copiers , but an increasing number are produced using memory typewriters or on personal computers. However, this diversity also offers opportunities. One (the modern editorial staff) as well as the other extreme (the editors who act with the simplest means) show in their own way the commitment and commitment to bring out a magazine. Some institutions allow the editors to take up the possibilities of the new media and have an Internet presence. Since prisoners normally have no access to the Internet, this form of publication is aimed exclusively at an external readership, i.e. it is used for public relations.

distribution

Apart from Germany and some papers in Austria, there seem to be hardly any prisoner magazines in other European countries.

Germany

Around 60 editorial offices are currently working in German prisons, and there are prisoner newspapers mainly in the area of ​​penal systems for adult men. In the youth penitentiary system, there are currently no known magazines with the exception of the magazine "Popshop" JVA Herford ", which is produced in cooperation with young editors from" outside ", at most some institutions, such as Diskus 70 in Bremen, have a youth department. only Chemnitz, Schwäbisch Gmünd & Vechta ), in the penal system ( LKH Haldem , LKH Moringen , Lippstadt ) and especially in pre-trial detention ( Oldenburg ), prisoner sheets are comparatively rare. that the imprisonment periods are often very short and working in the editorial department does not seem worthwhile. In the case of female prisoners, there may also be the fact that the prisons are rather small and the effort is avoided for various reasons (costs, low readership). Some prisoner magazines are exclusive internally approved and are not disseminated outside of the institutions Daily editions in Bavaria , for example Allmächt ( Nuremberg ) and Aichach-live ( Aichach ).

Austria

At least in 2007 there were four prisoner magazines in Austria

  • The Insider (Prison Graz-Karlau, see also)
  • Blickpunkte (Mittersteig Special Institution, Vienna) until 2005: Mittersteig News
  • and two other unnamed magazines in Salzburg and in the Schwarzau women's prison

North America

One of the few prisoner magazines available in the USA is the "San Quentin News". Although it was launched as an occasional newsletter in 1940, it was only in 2008 that it developed into a nationally recognized organ. In February 2014 she received the "James Madison Freedom of Information Award". The sheet is made by 15 prisoners. It appears monthly with a circulation of 11,500 copies. A subscription costs $ 40 a year; inmates of San Quentin and 17 other California institutions receive the magazine for free (more institutions are to be included).

A special feature is the Canadian Journal of Prisoners on Prisons , which has been published in English since 1988. Academic, literary and political contributions are published here that are written by prisoners or former prisoners and are peer-reviewed before publication . Then they are brought to market by a non-profit organization and sold in print like magazines on the web or through a subscription.

Currently known magazines (Germany)

  • Popshop (Herford JVA)

External journals

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b prisoner newspapers ( memento of July 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), free subscriptions for prisoners e. V .: Information and education for people in custody , accessed on April 23, 2014
  2. ↑ Anja Vomberg: Behind lock and bolt. Prisoner newspapers from North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg between claim and reality . Forum Verlag Godesberg, Mönchengladbach 2000, pp. 93-98.
  3. ↑ Udo Pasterny , Jens Gehret (ed.), " German-language bibliography magazines from 1950 to 1980 ", chapter prisoner magazines , pages 117–121. Azid Presse publishing house, Amsterdam 1982. ISBN 90-70215-10-1
  4. ↑ http://www.jva-herford.nrw.de/haben/ehrenamtl_lösungen/index.php Spring 2019 edition: Foreword and imprint
  5. ↑ Monika Schlecht: Journalism behind bars. Sorry , February 1973.
  6. ↑ http://www.justizvollzugsbeauftragter.nrw.de/lösungen/Vor-Bilder/JVA_Herford/index.php
  7. ^ The time of August 15, 2007
  8. ↑ megaphon_2007 / juni / 153 / Strassenmagazin Megaphon, June 2007
  9. ↑ WebPage of the San Quentin News
  10. ↑ Information from George Spiro, A magazine by and for "tied up" readers. NZZ, September 3, 2014
  11. ↑ jpp.org History and Robert Gaucher: Journal of Prisoners on Prisons , 2013, No. 2, 128 ff.

literature

  • Russell N. Baird: The penal press . Northwestern University Press, Evanston 1967
  • Gernot Joerger: The German prison press in the past and present . Enke Verlag, Stuttgart 1971
  • Uta Klein : Prison Press. About their origin and development in Germany . Forum Verlag Godesberg, Mönchengladbach 1992
  • Uta Klein and Helmut H. Koch (eds.): Prisoner literature. Speaking, writing and reading in German prisons . Reiner Padligur Verlag, Hagen 1988
  • Helmut H. Koch (ed.): Unheard words: prisoners write. A documentation from German prisoner newspapers . Münster, Tende Verlag 1982, ISBN 3-88633-105-9
  • Janka Kreißl: Behind bars - prisoner magazines in Germany . VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2007
  • Frank M. Vollmer: Prisoner Magazines. An analysis of their functions in North Rhine-Westphalian prisons . Bochum, Dr. N. Brockmeyer Verlag 1980. (= Bochum studies on journalism and communication science, volume 27), also Bochum master's thesis, ISBN 3-88339-113-1 .
  • Anja Vomberg: Under lock and key . Prisoner newspapers from North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg between claim and reality . Forum Verlag Godesberg, Mönchengladbach 2000, ISBN 978-3-930-98255-4 , ( limited preview in the Google book search).

Web links
The following journals are also available online
More information on the Journal of Prisoners on Prisons