Written by the Incarcerated | |
Type | Prison newspaper |
---|---|
Founder(s) | Clinton Duffy |
Founded | 1940 |
Language | English |
City | San Quentin, California |
Circulation | 35,000 (as of 2022) |
Website | sanquentinnews |
The San Quentin News is a non-profit, monthly prison newspaper written and edited by inmates at San Quentin State Prison in California and published by the Pollen Initiative.
History
The San Quentin News was founded in 1940 by Clinton Duffy, the then warden of San Quentin State Prison, as an inmate-edited newspaper. The newspaper had a spotty publication record until completely closing in the 1990s. It was reestablished in 2008 by warden Robert Ayers, Jr. and, as of 2014, had a print circulation of 11,500. By 2022 this had grown to a circulation of 35,000, with copies of the newspaper distributed to inmates at 36 California state prisons and some jails.
The San Quentin News is published by the Pollen Initiative.
Content
The San Quentin News covers local sports, prison entertainment, and correctional policies. All content published by the newspaper is subject to pre-publication review by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and, in 2014, the publication was suspended for more than a month after newspaper staff substituted an approved photograph with an unapproved photograph.
The San Quentin News is a member outlet of the Institute for Nonprofit News.
References
- Carlson, Claire; Petrone Slepyan, Anya (2024-10-15). "A Prison Newspaper Hopes to Bridge 'Inside' and 'Outside' Worlds in Rural California". The Daily Yonder. Retrieved 2024-12-20.
- ^ Pishko, Jessica (October 28, 2014). "The San Quentin News seeks to humanize inmates". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ Leigh Brown, Patricia (May 20, 2014). "Inmates' Newspaper Covers a World Behind San Quentin's Walls". New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- Hanson, Natalie (December 23, 2021). "San Quentin newspaper carries on through pandemic". Marin Independent Journal. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- Keegan, Rebecca (July 31, 2023). "The Auteurs of San Quentin". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- "INN Network Directory". findyournews.org. Institute for Nonprofit News. 27 January 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
External links
- Interview with Steve McNamara on the San Quentin News for the "Ralph Nader Story Hour"
- "Prison Truth: The Story of the San Quentin News" by William J. Drummond