This edition of the San Quentin News marks the one-year anniversary of the resurrection of the inmate-produced newspaper whose aim is to tell what life inside the walls is really like.
We have come a long way since that June 2008 paper hit the Print Shop presses, and we still have a long way to go. But everyone involved in the production can be proud of our accomplishments.
The layout is better, the content is stronger, the editing is crisper and the journalistic quality is remarkable.
As a retired journalist, I was asked to help put the paper back together in April 2008, after a 16-year hiatus. I agreed because I felt the effort could accomplish several worthwhile goals: improve communication among the administration, prisoners, staff and guards, improve communication between the prison and the outside community, and provide valuable job skills to inmates. We have, in fact, accomplished all of those goals.
A large percentage of our stories have detailed the positive side of prison life: inmates who are turning their lives around, getting education, training and counseling to help them toward positive, productive lives whether inside or outside of San Quentin.
The reaction has been remarkable. At first many prisoners viewed the paper suspiciously but by now virtually all of them look forward to reading every story in every edition. The warden reports his phone has been ringing off the hook from other prisons that love the paper and want to start something similar at their facility.
A publication distributed inside London prisons wants to send a representative to San Quentin to learn how they can do something similar for British inmates. The paper has been featured in stories by The Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent Journal and National Public Radio.
We are featured on the internet web site of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, including complete copies of papers since June 2008.
Not everyone loves us, of course. There are people who don’t like the idea of a prisoner writing for publication about what’s going on inside the walls, especially if there is the slightest hint of criticism.
But we have been honored with strong support from the administration and staff.
We are proud of our newspaper and hope it will be around for many years, helping to tell the story of San Quentin Prison.
