CHICAGO, IL – We are excited to announce that the Institute to End Mass Incarceration is co-hosting a groundbreaking new national conference this spring about the critical importance of journalism in and about prisons, especially by incarcerated journalists. Alongside our co-hosts, Look2Justice, Empowerment Ave, Haymarket Books, as well as our own magazine, Inquest, we are building an incredible two days – May 29 and 30 in Chicago – packed with thoughtful discussion, strategizing and community-building among leaders, journalists, editors, advocates, lawyers, and more from around the country.
You can register for the conference here.
Without a free press in and around prisons, we can never truly know what is happening inside them. Without brave reporting by those on the inside, the abuses, violence and dangerous conditions that so often plague prisons will continue to be shrouded in secrecy – and will not end.
Our Exposing Prisons Project is laser-focused on the vital importance of this transparency: the ability to see in and the ability to speak out. Through our work, we have come to see that radical policy intervention will be essential to truly expose what happens behind prison walls. To that end, we are forging a new legal landscape to protect those reporting – from the inside out and from the outside in.
Inspired by the efforts of muckraking prison journalists across the country, the Bridging the Gap conference in late May, open to all and free to attend, will tackle questions and discussions around what we can all do to truly bridge the gap between inside and out.
Additionally, two events at the conference will feature IEMI and Inquest team members:
- On Friday May 29th, Adam McGee (Managing Editor, Inquest) will be featured in a skills sharing workshop about doing editorial work with incarcerated writers, an area he has extensive experience with through Inquest.
- On Friday, May 29th, Andrew Crespo (Executive Faculty Director) and Corinne Shanahan (Policy Fellow) from IEMI will be featured on a panel: Bridges, Not Walls: Building the Future of Journalism in and about American Prisons.
