I am a reporter for the SQ News. Have been for a year or more now. I’d have to say that I have certainly had some enjoyable and, at times, enlightening moments through my work on the paper. And then there are those other times, where the going has on occasion gotten just a bit rough.
I’m often reminded that the paper is printed under the auspices of the Education Dept., and as such is meant to be a learning experience. And I’d have to agree that it has been just that, often on a daily basis.
In my wanderings throughout the mainline part of the prison, I am often approached by both inmates and staff wishing to express their opinions regarding our paper, which is their paper. Many of them have expressed an opinion that our newspaper has often fallen short of reflecting the true realities of prison life as we know it to be. The bad as well as the good, from both sides. As I see it, there are a number of reasons why this continues to be the case.
Despite the fact that our paper is some 12 issues old now and counting in its latest incarnation, it is still in fact a baby. And as much as I would like to see the baby get up and walk, I suppose we’re still in the crawling stage. And all of the impatience in the world is not going to hasten the learning process for us on the staff, or for the prison administrators, who, like it or not, are the ultimate arbiters of what is going to appear on these pages.
It’s a feeling out process, of what the staff would like to see on its pages, and what the administration feels we ought to know. And sometime, somewhere along the way, we’ll all most certainly meet someplace in the middle. And in the process the paper will continue to develop its own character and to take on a life of its own, as well. And I have faith that we reporters will begin to earn a reputation for credibility and honesty for our paper, amongst our peers here behind these walls, amongst the staff and administrators who interact with us day in and day out – and who are our partners in this sometimes uneasy alliance, and amongst the very broad spectrum of our entire reader base.
And someday in the not-too-distant future, I hope that you, the reader, will be able to pick up the paper to read it, confident in the knowledge that in its pages you will generally find an accurate and honest portrayal and understanding of what our prison life is really all about behind these walls. The very best that we are able to do for you.
And our paper will be able to comprehensively explore a wide variety of such sensitive issues as the transfer of inmates out-of-state, the pending and imminent release of a number of inmates from California’s overcrowded prisons and the myriad issues that the many Lifers behind these walls must contend with in their quest for freedom. And, yes, we’ll even post articles dealing with the occasional violence that erupts behind these walls in ways that don’t glorify the incidents.
I hope to see all of these things in the coming year, the second year of our existence. And in the meantime, we on the staff will keep up the struggle to bring you, our readers, the truths, the realities and the triumphs of our lives behind the walls.
It’s not easy, no siree, not at all! But then no one told me it would be. But it is, and has been, a learning experience. And I suppose that I’m grateful for that.