Reader shares praise and constructive criticism
Dear San Quentin News staff,
To begin, I want to express my appreciation for all that you do at SQN. I look forward to reading every issue you put out each and every month because it always contains informative articles about various justice-related news that has the ability to lift my spirits while giving me hope for a better future inside and—God willing—outside of prison.
In particular, I find your profiles of incarcerated men who have been or will be released following countless years behind bars (quite literally in San Quentin) the most inspiring and impactful journalism that you can do. All incarcerated people have a difficult journey ahead of them, so to read about those who have come out the other side of it and how they went about it gives those of us still inside, who are beginning a long sentence, a blueprint on how it can be done. I encourage you to include more profiles of incarcerated men that highlight the benefits of their participation in positive programming.
Also, I’m grateful for your inclusion of CCWF’s Paper Trail with every issue of SQN. I find it fascinating and enlightening to read about incarceration from a woman’s perspective. I hope that it remains a permanent insert included with every SQN issue, and I wish for its continued success.
And now, I must share some constructive criticism. I say “must” because I feel that it’s necessary for the staff at SQN to hear it so that they can produce their best work.
I’ve been noticing quite a lot of compositional errors from some of your writers, such as misplaced or missing punctuation marks, sentence fragments used as complete sentences, inconsistent verb tenses within a sentence, incorrect capitalization of proper nouns, and errors with captioning photos. When I read these articles and come across these errors, first of all, it makes the reading frustrating and difficult to follow, and secondly, I cringe internally with embarrassment because I can instantly recognize how SQN is depicted by the public as though it was obviously written by inadequately educated people in prison who don’t have a proofreader.
We as incarcerated people have many obstacles to overcome, especially the character defects that got us in here, yet one of the negative aspersions we have the power to dispel about people in prison is that we can do something well, specifically in the journalism field, and thus requires the ability to follow the rules of English composition.
I hope that in the future your writers will put more time and effort into editing, revising, and proofreading their pieces before submitting them for publication— not only for the sake of taking pride in their work, but also for maintaining the reputation and preserving the legacy of California’s preeminent prison journalism publication, San Quentin News.
Besides this bit of criticism, keep up the good work.
―Jared Herdt Pleasant Valley State Prison Coalinga, CA 93210
Positive programming inspires reader
Dear San Quentin News staff,
My name is Arturo Morfin. I am serving LWOP here at KVSP and I would really like to receive the San Quentin News every issue as it comes out if possible. I do not have any money, but I need you to know that your newspaper is a positive hope for me. I attend Bakersfield College in pursuit of my major in Communications. I one day hope to be able to go to San Quentin and positively program there. At the moment there is nothing that can get me home, but San Quentin would be the closest thing to home for me. I daydream of being on the Giant’s team and being around people who want to better their life in here. Thank you for your time, have a great day.
―Arturo Morfin Kern Valley State Prison Delano, CA 93216
Big fan of SQNews all the way from New York
Dear San Quentin News staff, My name is Alfredo Arvelo, and I just want to say that I am a big fan of SQN. I have been incarcerated in a New York State Civil Commitment facility for 10 plus years and at time it feels hopeless. But after reading your newspaper I feel the light of hope coming back. Your stories have given me some ideas to bring up at my facility. Thanks so much and keep up the good work.
―Alfredo Arvelo STARC- Oakview Mercy, NY 13403
Incarcerated Oregonians publication aims high
Dear San Quentin News staff,
We are a small group of writers in Oregon that publish a monthly newsletter and a quarterly magazine. Our newsletter has been in circulation for almost seven years and our magazine started last year. Our newsletter prints at our facility, while the magazine is published at every Oregon Prison. We only recently learned of SQ News and we’ve become big fans. The work you do is truly impressive- a pinnacle at which we aim. Good luck and thank you for setting the bar.
―Phillip Luna Eastern Oregon Correctional Institute Pendleton, OR 97801
