At the beginning of the year the San Quentin newspaper was suspended for 45 days. The circumstances surrounding our suspension were somewhat alluded to in the February/March editorial message. I won’t revisit the controversy or particulars of that issue. However, I do feel a pressing need to present an OG’s perspective on the question of censorship.
Obviously, any news publication operating inside a prison is subject to restrictions. So let us not kid ourselves or hide behind any illusions. There is no genuine freedom of the press at the San Quentin News. The prison administration will always have the final say-so on what we can and cannot publish. And occasionally, they will exercise their authority and perhaps their need to demonstrate to us that they’re the ones calling the shots.
We have to be very mindful of our situation and how we choose our subjects and frame our articles, especially when expressing critical opinions or perspectives on controversial issues. One question is always at the forefront of our journalistic minds: How do we write critically what needs to be written without overtly offending or crossing administrative boundaries? And for most of the staff writers here at San Quentin News, that boundary can become a tightrope.
While restrictions from the administration are expected, the real threat to freedom of expression is self-censorship. Self-censorship shapes what we choose to write about (or not write about). Our commitment and our challenge as journalists with the San Quentin News is for us to continue to write about issues that are real and relevant to the incarcerated men and women who have no voice.
As a result of this latest administrative shutdown of the newspaper, we are once again reminded that we are prisoners first and journalists second. If nothing else, the real meaning and message of this most recent shutdown is to affirm that the administration is calling the shots.
Yet even with the administration’s supervision, our readers should always be critical, vigilant and demanding of us. If our reporting deteriorates to the point where the San Quentin News is the mouthpiece of the administration, this newspaper will have lost its journalistic integrity and legitimacy as the “Pulse of San Quentin.”
