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I am not the author. If you have questions about this paper,
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You have the right to remain silent or you may choose to put your
words in print:
The Rikers Review and the prison press as advocacy journalism
Kalen M.A. Churcher
Doctoral Candidate
The Pennsylvania State University
College of Communications
115 Carnegie Building
University Park, PA 16802
[log in to unmask]
(570) 510-5670
Submitted to: History Division
Request for computer access.
Abstract
You have the right to remain silent or you may choose to put your
words in print:
The Rikers Review and the prison press as advocacy journalism
Prison journalism has been a part of U.S. history since 1800, yet the
subgenre has become nearly extinct. Through a close reading of three
of the earliest years (1937-1939) of the Rikers Review, this research
paper describes how prison reform advocacy was woven into prison
journalism much like black, abolitionist and suffragist newspapers
presented their own constituencies' crusades. Though clearly
understudied, prison journalism warrants the same scholarly
recognition afforded to other advocacy media.
You have the right to remain silent or you may choose to put your
words in print:
The Rikers Review and the prison press as advocacy journalism
"I urge that society, in the kindness of its heart, immediately
make some provision to cure the evil of turning the half-man loose to
compete with the whole man, and breaking him in the process." 1
-Albert Zuckerman
Nearly 30 years before Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm
founded the first African-American newspaper or Elias Boudinot
attempted to Christianize Native Americans with the Cherokee Phoenix,
a very different type of newspaper spawned from the confines of New
York's Debtors Prison. Aptly named Forlorn Hope by its creator,
William Keteltas, the newspaper was designed to shed light on the
atrocities that existed in the nation's debtors prisons. In March
1800, the newspaper became the first publication in what ultimately
led to a string of prison media, or jailhouse journalism,2 and
another subgenre under the umbrella of advocacy journalism.
Despite the overwhelming similarities between prison
journalism and more well-known forms of advocacy journalism, little
has been written on jailhouse journalism3 and even less has been
discussed in media history classes. Therefore, one must go directly
to said prison publications, extrapolate data, and compare
information to research conducted on more mainstream advocacy
publications. 4 That such a void exists within the realm of media
history is indeed detrimental to the scholarship of journalism,
advocacy or not. Nancy Roberts addresses the societal impact of
advocacy journalism in Ten Thousand Tongues' Speaking for Peace:
Purposes and Strategies of the Nineteenth-Century Peace Advocacy Press.
Numerous alternative periodicals have given voice to cultures and
viewpoints not expressed in the mainstream press. This alternative
press tradition includes many vigorous social movement advocacy
publications which have challenged the dominant culture to consider
new ideas and issues and to foment change. Important
nineteenth-century examples include the periodicals of abolitionists,
evangelicals, temperance activists, woman suffragists – and of peace
advocates…5
The penal press has indeed morphed in the last 200 years. In
many instances, publications have changed from news outlets
paralleling mainstream newspapers to journals of creative prose. Even
prison literary journals that birthed prison poetry6 have begun to
slowly lose their footing in state and local penitentiaries, making
historical tracking even more pertinent. To date, the prison
publications have touched every state, with the exception of North
Dakota,7 and the District of Columbia. Despite the popularity of such
journalism however, few researchers have delved into the highly
specified subgenre or examined the purpose of targeting such a
narrow, albeit captive, audience.
Russell N. Baird is one of two book authors who have
acknowledged at length the concept of prison journalism. In his 1967
book, The Penal Press,8 Baird looked at such journalism from a
variety of facets, including as: an information medium, an
entertainment medium, a medium of influence and an outlet for
creative self expression. Thirty-one years later, James McGrath
Morris took Baird's work one step further assuming a more cultural
approach to the history of jailhouse journalism, while still banking
on the advocacy qualities of the press – both to inmates and reform.9
Through a close reading of three of the earliest years,
1937-1939, of the Rikers Review,10 this article illustrates how the
advocacy aspect of prison reform was woven into jailhouse journalism
in a fashion similar to how black, abolitionist or suffragist
newspapers presented their own constituencies' crusades. Still in
publication today, the Rikers Review was intentionally chosen for the
study. In addition to New York's pivotal role in establishing
jailhouse journalism, Rikers Prison is considered the largest penal
colony in the United States, with thousands staying annually. Yet
despite the high-volume traffic passing through Rikers Island, the
prison – including its thousands of inhabitants – epitomizes the
out-of-sight-out-of-mind cliché. Author Jennifer Wynn writes:
In many ways, Rikers Island is like the big white elephant sitting
smack in the center of New York City that no one sees. Its
invisibility symbolizes the kind of dense national fog that enshrouds
the country's thinking when it comes to people who break the law. Our
current strategy of 'make them pay and keep them far away' simply
incapacitates lawbreakers temporarily and at a ridiculously high
price. It ensures that the 130,000 people who pass through Rikers
Island every year, many of them prison alumni, will continue pursuing
the two things they know best: doing crime and doing time.11
To the extent manageable, this work allows the articles written by
Rikers Island prisoners to stand as written, without researcher
paraphrasing. The thoughtful, profound and progressive nature of each
typewritten word is worth noting in its original form without
grammatical or linguistic alterations.
Early Beginnings of the Prison Press
"The press is and always has been an essential window through which
to view various aspects of American history. Nevertheless, the
concept of diversity in the historical study of the press has been
slow to find its way to the scholarly agenda of departments of
history, journalism, mass communication, and other social sciences
throughout the nation's colleges and universities."12 Written in the
introduction to Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History:
Multicultural Perspectives, the previous words are a testament to the
lack of literature on the penal press.13 Even where editors Frankie
Hutton and Barbara Straus Reed highlighted the works of the Mormons,
Chinese-Americans and peace advocates as alternative or advocacy
press publications, jailhouse journalism is absent, with nary a line
acknowledging its existence. Hutton and Straus Reed wrote that their
examples shared one commonality: being "outsiders" of the "mainstream
American society of the 19th century."14 Closer examination of key
tenets found in several advocacy press sub-genres reveals that the
prison press deserves a place alongside such publications as the
black or suffragist presses.
To a journalism scholar, the names Samuel Cornish and John
Russwurm,15 are surely more familiar than the name William Keteltas.
Designed to give blacks an outlet to express their own viewpoints16
at a time when few – if any -- mainstream publications would grant a
similar request, Freedom's Journal, at the most banal level, provided
a voice for an underrepresented segment of society. It focused not
only on the achievements of African-Americans but on the need for
equality. Entering the realm of advocacy journalism at about the same
time as the black press were suffragist press publications like Susan
B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Revolution and Lucy Stone's
Woman's Journal. By keeping the ideals of the suffragist movement
fresh in the minds of women and potential supporters, such journals
and newspapers counterbalanced the hostility emanating from the
mainstream press. According to Sherilyn Cox Bennion:
Women's rights periodicals are readily identifiable as part of the
venerable tradition of alternative voices in the press of the United
States. Certainly, they shared the traits one writer listed as
characteristic of the dissident press: They were underdogs, at least
until well into the 20th century; they held views that diverged from
the mainstream; they wanted to effect social change; they were
excluded from the traditional media marketplace, but their ideas
gradually filtered into it.17
If one considered the suffragist press an underdog, then what might
that same person make of a subgenre of advocacy journalism that has
existed nearly three decades longer than that of the black press and
is still publishing in 2006? Barbara F. Luebke admits in Elias
Boudinot and "Indian Removal" that the Native American press18 is
"barely acknowledged" in journalism history,19 but even a slight
mention of the Native American press is much more than the prison
press has been given to date.
Forlorn Hope, the first of many prison publications, was
created by a New York lawyer-turned-debtor at a time when prisons
brimmed with those guilty of little more than owing a few dollars.
Little differentiated the publication from other mainstream
newspapers at the time, save the masthead's drawing of two men in
chains under which, in semi-circular formation, was the saying
"Liberty suspended but will be restored." In a slightly smaller
fashion, Keteltas emblazoned the cry: "We should starve were it not
for the Humane Society."20 It is only when the pictorial and the
verbiage are coupled together that one might begin to question the
motive of this publication.
Unlike virtually any other prison publication to date, Keteltas'
newspaper was not aimed at the prison population, but rather the
outside world. It was there he hoped to find advocates willing to
change the laws regarding debtors.21 That the paper was a business as
well as a tool for social change was immediately evident with
Keteltas' price tag: $3 per annum; $1 "in advance to city"; or $1.50
for "country subscribers."22 He also promised prose and poetry from
other authors.23 Similar to other newspapers that fell under the
auspices of advocacy journalism, Keteltas emphasized his crusade but
also included mainstream news from abroad as well as more
feature-like pieces. Yet from the beginning of the paper's brief run,
Keteltas was direct in stating his advocacy position. In his
inaugural editorial, placed prominently on the front page of multiple
editions, Keteltas decried his position and begged for legislative
intervention.
I ask the Representatives of the people, to whom is intrusted [sic]
the application of its preserving power, to apply the remedy by a law
for our deliverance! To point out the necessity of legislative
interference, I need only relate the devastation of property and the
destruction of lives, lost by the operation of a law intended to have
a contrary effect. Finding it impossible to do this by a petition, as
forcibly as through the medium of a paper, I have determined to
attempt the establishment of one for this express purpose, of which
this is a specimen, and will accompany proposals to obtain
subscriptions for its support.24
Also unique to this particular prison publication was that the
four-page newspaper was published without the support of the prison
system, forcing Keteltas to rely on outside advertising dollars and
subscriptions to fund his crusade. Advertisements mimicked the style
of notices frequently carried by mainstream newspapers, though were
clearly less abundant. The scarcity of quality advertisers was a
common concern of those publishers who worked with the advocacy
press. Afraid of boycotts by the dominant, ruling class, advertisers
often shied away from ventures that could have a costly impact on
their business.
The life of Forlorn Hope was a short one, and the paper ceased
operation approximately six months after it began,25 perhaps due to a
lack of audience or lack of funds. According to the newspaper,
problems with carriers and printers plagued the publication, making
its public reliability shaky at best.26 It took eighty-three years
before another prison paper was published,27 and with that newspaper
came changes that served as a template for a new wave of penal media.
Forlorn Hope, though considered the grandfather of prison
publications, was an anomaly. Its predecessors focused attention not
on the general public but on the society behind prison walls.
Opening up Rikers Island
Publication of the Rikers Review in 1936 came about
three-quarters of the way through what Larry Sullivan described as
the Age of Progressive Reform28 for prisons. The 1890s ushered in
industrialization and urbanization as people hungry for work headed
to big cities. Immigrants provided cheap labor for industrialists and
poverty soared, making the onset of crime virtually predictable and
unavoidable. Yet at the same time, prison reform was underway. As
part of a push to change prisons from abusive workhouses for free
labor, the New York Prison Association "came out against contracting
in 1870, and in 1888 that state forbade productive labor in
prison."29 "New York State should develop a prison system which will
protect society from the criminal and his evil deeds by endeavoring
to re-educate and retrain the men and women in prison so … they may
become useful members of the community."30
In 1933, as construction for the new prison at Rikers Island
was underway, it was decided that a trained penologist should head
the new penitentiary instead of someone who lacked knowledge and
experience but carried high political prowess.31 On May 1, 1935,
Richard A. McGee, a former educational supervisor for a Pennsylvania
federal prison, was sworn in as warden of Rikers Island prison. "I
have no intention of making just a school of the Rikers Island
prison, but I plan to have a well-rounded penitentiary program on
which the first consideration will be work," McGee said. "What the
men need most of all is an opportunity of employment which will
enable them to learn habits of industry."32 With strict regulations
on using inmates as laborers and a desire to shape prisoners into
productive citizens for their pending releases, education entered the
prisons. It is in this educationally-based forum that the Rikers
Review, under the tutelage of Leo Klauber, director of education at
the Rikers Island penitentiary, began.
The Rikers Review
Advocating for Reform
"Rikers Island is the dirty secret of the richest city on
earth, a caged city floating in the East River that most New Yorkers
couldn't find on a map."33 Though written decades after the Rikers
Review was first published, Jennifer Wynn's words apply as easily to
the early 1880s as they do today. Only months before the first issue
of the Rikers Review debuted,34 then-New York City Controller Joseph
D. McGoldrick blasted the island and the opening of the new prison.
"At night the whole island is a place to terrify anyone. As soon as
darkness descends hordes of rats come out of their hiding places in
the mountains of garbage and run rampant over the island."35 But no
matter what the status of the situation, hundreds, and ultimately
thousands, of prisoners called the island home.
The earliest editions of the Rikers Review were rudimentary in
nature. Eight pages in length with two, unevenly typed columns, the
February 15, 1936 publication36 bore a calligraphic Riker's Review37
on its masthead. Beneath that, the words Penitentiary of the City of
New York Educational Unit were printed, and still lower, Rikers
Island, New York. Anecdotal briefs from across the world filled that
front page, as well as an article entitled, "CALIFORNIA …. AND THE
PAROLE SYSTEM." The piece was a reprint of an editorial from the Los
Angeles Daily News and spoke of Superior Court Judge William Tell
Aggeler's belief that probation was a positive tool of the penal
system. According to Aggeler, most (sixty-nine percent) of
California's probationers went on to become useful citizens, further
lending credence to one of three popular tenets in Progressive Reform
(the others being parole and the indeterminate sentence).38
Additional advocacy pieces followed. Some focused on the prison as an
institution and others focused on society beyond penitentiaries'
walls. J. Dandie, who worked as a printer for the Rikers Review,
emphasized the need for societal reformation as well as institutional
change.39 He argued that prisoners who had served their time should
be awarded another chance upon being released into society. If such
an opportunity was not afforded, the former inmate would have little
chance to do anything else than find himself with no means of support
and behind bars in a minuscule amount of time. In the July 1939 issue
of the Rikers Review, Dandie wrote:
We preach the rules of fair play and good sportsmanship, but
do we practice them? No! Not when we consistently hold them down
and even walk on, the man who has paid his debt and earned the
right to again join society. It would be much more humane to take
their lives at the very start than to encourage them to again join
a society which will not forget and forgive.40
In actuality, considerable attention was given to the fate of
ex-convicts upon their release from prison. An un-bylined story
entitled "Profit and Loss" questioned,
Are we to be considered a total loss to society upon our release from
this institution? Are we to be the target of the finger of scorn? Are
we to hear whispered behind our backs wherever we go, 'Don't have
anything to do with him; he is an ex-convict.' A great deal depends
upon ourselves, but more depends upon these under whose supervision
we are while here.41
One month earlier, K.S. #66416 Block 742 questioned rehabilitation
when he wrote:
The correctional branch of society has been vested with the task of
solving the problem of rehabilitation. Whether the real cause of slow
progress is lack of interest or inability, does not matter. Both
should be corrected if such conditions exist. We should immediately
embark on a nationwide attempt to enlighten the public as to the
obstructions and win public help and support by allowing ex-prisoners
to compete for civil-service positions. It is ironical to condemn
industry for refusing to consume ALL ex-prisoners while the
government excludes ALL prisoners from ANY CIVIL SERVICE POSITION. 43
Reexamining the length of prison sentences was also urged through
the Rikers Review, as was debating if reform was a genuine facet of
the penal system. In his article "Mooney Released," inmate H.L.S.
noted that a crime's gravity was not always indicative of the imposed
punishment. He further argued that of the two purposes of prison –
reform and punishment – reform was seldom achieved.44 That being
said, one must acknowledge the work accomplished by those who took
advantage of the prison's educational courses or participated in its
vocational aspects, including the Rikers Review. In the un-bylined
story, "Exchange Review," the newspaper's importance to inmates and
management was touted.
The plethora of enthusiastic expressions by inmates in story, essay,
poem and song-chanting pride in literary accomplishment, spurred with
incentive by newly acquired vocational aptitudes, expanding with
appreciation and looking up with gratitude to both officials and
mentors for the encouragement are just the external sign of inward
growth. Thus, through this medium, are wise administrators and prison
officials able to foster a genuine social consciousness among their
inmate bodies and at the same time feel the true pulse beat of a
badly diagnosed organism, which is only too ready to respond, given
the right psychological touch.45
Initially more simplistic in design than even the
turn-of-the-century Forlorn Hope, the Rikers Review, within a
three-year span, was transformed into a much more artistic, magazine
production, with divisions including fiction, non-fiction, sports and
entertainment. On its second page, the publication introduced itself
and made its goals clear to readers. No direct mention of reform or
advocacy was ever stated.
The purpose of this publication is to give the inmates the
opportunity of self expression, to provide them with a medium of
discussion of public problems and to add to their store of
information and inspiration. Articles appearing herein represent the
views and opinions of the authors, and do not imply approval, either
by the authorities, or the editor. Manuscripts will be accepted of
[sic] the basis of originality, but responsibility is not assumed for
any that may be plagiarisms.46
W.P. Brown – 64348 editor
At a time when vocational education in prison was being established
as part of prison reform, it is understandable why a project like the
Rikers Review would have been undertaken. "Vocational education to
enable inmates to become self-supporting is the chief object in the
reforms suggested,"47 quoted an unnamed author in reference to a 1937
report submitted to Gov. Herbert H. Lehman by the Commission for the
Study of Educational Problems of Penal Institutions for Youth. The
piece went on to state that men cannot be reformed through
"brutality, routine, regimentation and dreading monotony."48
Vocational training became a necessary component of prison life and
what better a venue to publicize the progress of such programs than
in one of the prison's pet projects? The Aug. 23, 1937 opening of a
bakery was just one example as to how prison propaganda entered the
Rikers Review.
There will be approximately 60 inmates employed in this modern plant.
How much practical skill is acquired by the individual depends upon
the man. Much time and energy have been spent to make this the most
modern plant of its kind in the country. Competent, helpful and
sympathetic instructors are on duty. We await the results with anticipation.49
The newspaper also gave accolades to the City of New York for the
creating of the city's first prison library.50 The reporter, Abe of
Block 1, referred to the books as "friends indeed. They serve us
during periods of stress, help in hours of despair, cheer us and make
us forget the things that are not within our immediate reach because
of our incarceration."51
Appealing to the Masses
Advocating reform was only one tenet of the Rikers Review.
Like others in the advocacy genre, the Rikers Review maintained news
copy that appealed to its specific target audience. During a time
when violence in prisons was increasing, the newspaper served to
enlighten – if not boost the morale of – inmates. It was not uncommon
to find spiritual or inspirational adages scattered among longer
pieces. According to one entry,
Our greatest fault lies in the fact that we have not complete faith
in ourselves. We believe that due to an apparent involvement, our
efforts are hopeless our hopeless. … We must push these situations
aside and that covetousness as well and strike out with full force
and energy."52
Though penal propaganda was of little shortage, original work was
also available. The poignant and well constructed poetry and prose
created by Rikers' men mirrored the human nature of the inmates. As
previously stated, this type of writing managed to gain a foothold in
mainstream society and remains somewhat popular even today.
Time is too slow for those who wait
Too swift for those who fear
Too long for those who grieve
Too short for those who rejoice
But for those who love time is
eternity.53
Inmate No. 64849 Block #4
In some instances, even the poetry contained an element of advocacy,
as did "Inside ~ Outside," a five stanza poem authored by Bud Rainey.
In his poem, Rainey begged for society to remember that those
confined to prisons were human, and upon being released from their
incarceration, had to be given a chance at redemption if they were to
become productive citizens.
So whenever we look at this Fortress so high,
And we think of the mortals within,
Let us make up our minds that we'll honestly try
To forgive him of every sin;
And whenever he's free and is trying again
To forget all the past – let's be fair,
Else he'll long for the Fortress where he can remain,
For his merits are recognized there!54
Author James McGrath Morris noted the importance of direct advocacy
for prison reform in such publications, but listed other purposes as
well including, as a means of therapy, to establish a bond among
inmates, to establish a sense of purpose and meaning in inmates'
lives, and to offer a chance to tell their side of the story.55
"Truth is always a precious and elusive thing, but more so in prison.
There, one person's truth is, more often than not, another's lie.
There is no middle ground."56 Personality profiles revealed another
side of the men who were often known only by inmate numbers. When
inmate and Rikers Review editor George A. Reid was released from
prison, his testimonial read, "We can benefit by a serious
contemplation of his enviable record and a resolve to make the time
spent here "GOOD TIME" in the sense that we will derive all possible
benefit [sic] from the opportunities for self-improvement and
self-discipline."57
It is evident that the earliest stage of the Rikers Review served
more as a general newspaper of sorts and offered a sense of utility
to its audience: from information on the city's success with
parole,58 to a visit by the New York City mayor,59 to marrying with
syphilis.60 One page was also devoted to sports within the prison
complex, typically ping pong, chess, baseball and board games, though
as the paper expanded from eight to as many as forty-four pages, the
sports section grew as well, broadening its scope to the outside
world with a feature called "Inside the Fence Outside the Fence."61
With letters to the editor, primitive line illustrations and
editorials, the Rikers Review visually mirrored mainstream news
publications of its time. A gossip column called "Around the Block"
(later to be named "Among Ourselves"), was one of the few unique
publication features that was applicable only to those living in the
Rikers Island prison. An excerpt from the February 15, 1939 issue
read as follows:
A SURPRISE --- The Hospital [sic] just woke up to the fact that we
want to hear from them – We are confronted with a letter –
(unsigned) which says that the "Wildscotchman" of the Unit is
training everynight [sic] for all comers this summer out in the
ring – TAKE NOTICE BUFFALO – The Brown Bomber, Eddie Strugas (also
of the hospital) is another boxer they claim who can dish out the
haymakers --- This summer will tell the tale. … We wish to thank
Louis Remba for his contributions – which seem to no end. We of the
staff are still working on the cryptogram he submitted and boy is
it a headache --? We fear the printing of it will add misery
to you all therefore we will dispense with it.62
Written by inmates from various cell blocks, the column allowed
prisoners to publicize the everyday thoughts and conversations that
occurred. Making little sense to one not privy to the prison culture
at that time, the importance of the feature was evident in that it
grew from less than one page to multiple pages within three of the
publication's earliest years.
Cartoons also became an important mainstay in the Rikers Review,
with their frequency increasing during the three years examined. A
1937 cartoon drawn by Karl #65105 entitled "Pen sketches of pen
life," boasted two frames and relatively simplistic line drawings.63
In the first frame, three men were drawn behind bars with one of the
men smoking a cigarette. The man said to the other two, "Say Jack!
I'm gonna get a soft job in dis joint. Got connections!" In the
second frame, the cigarette was gone and the man was no longer
smoking. Instead, he shoveled 'soft' coal while a nearby guard
watched. A year later, another issue boasted a more elaborate,
six-frame cartoon, "Humans and Humor: Bobie goes home," drawn by
Holmes.64 This particular cartoon told the story of a man happy to
return home after serving time in prison. One week after returning
home, however, he realized that his family placed more restrictions
on him than the prison. As a result, in the last frame, he asked his
parole officer if he could return to jail.
One cannot determine what caused the content and design shift
in the Rikers Review, but one might speculate that as the paper
matured during its infancy, so too, did its content. Only with
difficulty can one criticize the craftsmanship of the poignant essay
"HE IS A MAN" by Van Bell, prison inmate No. 65195.
We inmates during our stay here have ample time for thought. Most of
us looked for easy money and the result we know too well. … I for one
will do my utmost to deafen my ears to the jingle of tainted money in
the future. There is nothing like being able to come home in the
[sic] in the evening after an honest day's work and know that you can
sit down to the supper table with a clear conscience and be able to
look across at your loved ones, be it a mother, father, brother,
sister, wife, etc., and know that you have been a blessing to them.
When you know you are capable of doing this you may be sure that
people will point you our [sic] and say … He is a Man.65
Approximately eighteen months after the first Rikers Review was
published, or more accurately, mimeographed, drastic changes
occurred. Elaborate covers, typically drawn by inmate Karl Van Exel,
launched the twice-monthly publication. Most often, the drawings
corresponded to a particular holiday, including Mother's Day, Labor
Day and Thanksgiving. News outside of the prison became less and
less, and the air of reform initiated by Keteltas became apparent. By
1938 it was clear that the Rikers Review, once a four-page, memo-like
notice, would not assume the traditional design of a newspaper but
rather that of a magazine, with numerous drawings and a well divided
table of contents.
In the seemingly unchartered waters of prison journalism, one could
say that William Smith of Block 9 was the impetus to question
authority at Rikers. In a 1938 letter to the editor, Smith critically
questioned why the magazine did not run articles that directly
affected the prison body. He was given an immediate published
response that the only material censored by the Rikers Review was
that which was "salacious in content."66 Also that year, the Rikers
Review published the first of four installments of CRIME AND ITS
PUNISHMENT, attributed to Zealox – Block 7.67 In the June 30 issue,
Zealox criticized the argument of free will and proposed evil of criminals.
This ingenious rationalization of increasingly difficult social
problems may be illustrated like this, 'The dog to gain some private
end, went mad and bit the man.' Yet we know that no dog goes mad from
choice. … The dog's behavior pattern, its reactions to objective
situations were priorly conditioned and the pattern determined by the
interaction between the factors of its internal and external environment.68
Similar to other advocacy publications, the Rikers Review contained
standard, innocuous content that allowed the Rikers Review to be
published every month: the humor column entitled "Howls and Growls"
(later called "Wits of the Nit-Wits"), Sports, Radio Notes and Book
Lists. There were also tributes to those who left the prison, either
through parole or death. Showing a more tender side to the prison
population, Rikers Review staff members memorialized Brownie in their
May 1, 1938 publication. Brownie, a dog, was the prison's official
mascot and rat killer. She was buried near Block 6 by the stable.69
Again, such news divisions – the personality profile, the feature
piece or testimonial – could have been found in any mainstream
newspaper or magazine of the day. However even as the Rikers Review
became more focused on directly advocating prison reform, a lack of
news criticizing practices at Rikers Island (specifically) was
noticeably absent through 1939. In comparison, the New York Times,
the mainstream newspaper of record, seemingly had little problem
gathering somewhat controversial news about the prison complex.
The July 15, 1937 cover of the Rikers Review depicted a
sleeping man fishing under a tree near an old bridge. A more fitting
cover would have been a prisoner escaping through the roof of a
vehicle. According to the New York Times, Vito Russo, twenty-two,
escaped from a prison van outside of the Bronx County Courthouse on
April 23, 1937.70 Wearing handcuffs, he managed to cut his way
through the roof of the vehicle and, after a series of events that
ultimately led him to Detroit, he found his way to his mother's Long
Island home on July 8. He was returned to Rikers Island that same day.
To accompany the Zealox piece on CRIME AND ITS PUNISHMENT,71
editor A.T. Miano could have included the escape of Two-Gun-Bishop72
in the June 30 edition of the Rikers Review. In the prison system
since he was 11-years-old, Two-Gun, whose real name was Philip
Bishop, escaped from the island on June 11, 1938 at the age of
forty-six. News of Bishop's escape came only days after scandal hit
the prison when two tons of copper, sold as junk for $255.60, went
missing from Rikers Island.73 While looking for the missing copper,
Warden McGee found that "considerable amounts of other metals stored
on the island had vanished in the same mysterious manner."74 One year
later, Bishop made the New York Times yet again, though no mention
was found in the Rikers Review.
Prisoner Goes on Rampage
Joseph75 Bishop, 46 years old, alias
the Beast and Two-Gun Bishop, one
of the most troublesome prisoners
ever held in a city penal institution,
went on a rampage yesterday in the
hospital of Rikers Island Prison,
hurling furniture about, swearing
at nurses and attendants and
knocking Warden Richard A. Mc-
Gee to the floor with a blow to the
Jaw before he was restrained.76
Though the degree of censorship in the earliest of Rikers Review
publications could not be determined, such regulation was (and still
is) common among jailhouse journalism. In a 2005 published case
study, researcher Eleanor Novak documented the censorship involved in
heading a prison publication. "Inmate journalists struggle against
administrative censorship, peer volatility and their own limited
skills. Yet they persist, determined to affirm humanity, connect with
one another and raise their voices from the depths of a system built
to silence them."77 That is not to say the general prison system was
never criticized, but even when the 2,100 capacity limit of the
prison reached 2,700,78 or when Rikers' prisoners were forced to
sleep in machine shop spaces,79 criticism in the Rikers Review was
silent. Instead, inmates advocated changing the entire system instead
of their small parcel of the penal world.
Peter J. Johnson, in "Who Belongs in Prison,"80 ferociously
attacked the validity of sending alcoholics, the homeless, drug
addicts and prostitutes to prison. Time-served was not anticipated to
cause the alcoholic to not yearn for drink, to give the homeless a
home, or cure any others of their vices. He wrote, "For years
prostitutes have been thrown into jails. For the woman, prostitution
is a problem of opportunity, employment and adjustment to society;
for the community, it is largely a problem of health…"81 Quite
progressive for 1939, Johnson also questioned the imprisonment of
homosexuals, a group of "considerable population"82 at the Rikers
Island prison. Homosexuals, he explained, were "arrested because they
are male prostitutes who cohabit with their own sex. Homosexuals who
obtain gratification from adults harm no one and do not belong in an
institution."83 Only those men involved with minors were to be
considered "a potential menace,"84 but in those cases, the men were
to be institutionalized and not placed in jail.
Conclusion and Discussion
From one man's 1800 crusade, jailhouse journalism is on the verge of
completing its circle of life. According to Morris,85 the penal press
began advocating for prison reform in the 19th century and, after a
sorted history, is said to be suffering a slow death."86 For this
reason, it is imperative to study the vanishing subgenre. In
examining other forms of advocacy journalism, it is clear that the
prison press deserves to be included with the likes of the black,
suffragist and Native American presses. Scholars studying
journalism's history are at a disadvantage because of the lack of
scholarly research on the subgenre. Research on prisoners' rights and
penal reform is abundant in the field of criminal justice, though it
is noticeably absent in the annals of communication research, despite
the amounts of advocacy publications.
Like other forms of advocacy journalism, the penal press worked to
express the particular views of a group of people, namely prisoners
and those who supported them. Undoubtedly, government propaganda
found its way into prison journalism; however, threads of advocacy
remained. One might speculate that this is what allowed the
publication to exist with institutional support. It is unrealistic to
imagine that such a newspaper, created as part of a prison education
course, would exist without some degree of government propaganda.
Though the autonomy enjoyed by Forlorn Hope allowed Keteltas to
operate without institutional interference, one must concede that
financial hardships are the probable reasons for its short-lived
existence. It is unlikely that a similar publication would have
survived as long as the Rikers Review has. That being said, one must
recognize that the system financing this advocacy journalism is
sometimes the institution that is being targeted by said writing.
This places jailhouse journalism in a unique situation, worthy of its
own distinct study. One might question why the government allows such
newspapers to publish when the potential for their creating chaos
exists. That too, is worthy of additional study.
Admittedly, the somewhat controlled nature of prison
publications is apt to call into question the validity of placing it
into a genre with truly autonomous newspapers like Russwurm and
Cornish's Freedom's Journal that struggled financially in order to
print what editor's considered the truth about black society.
However, in examining three of the earliest years of the Rikers
Review, it is clear that the publication shared the ideals of other
advocacy publications, including:
* Supporting the viewpoints of a particular, segmented niche of society.
* Advocating for both prison reform and the rights of prisoners,
especially upon their release from prison.
* Highlighting the successes of its target population, including, at
times, releases from prison.
* Intertwining mainstream news of the day, and on occasion,
additional viewpoints, with its targeted crusade. How views were
expressed allowed the publication to assume a radical or moderate tone.87
* Finally, serving the needs of a group that was not being addressed
elsewhere. Prisoners were essentially forgotten about once they
entered the catacombs of a prison. Jailhouse journalism met their
needs by serving as the mainstream publication for a subgroup of society.
Any number of prison publications could have been examined for
this article, some having greater historical prowess than the Rikers
Review. However the Rikers Review deserved recognition for multiple
reasons, not the least of which is that the paper/magazine continues
to serve the nation's largest penal colony. That the publication is
distributed into the non-committed population is further reason to
explore what has become of this form of advocacy journalism, if for
no other reason than that which is cited by Baird in the preface of his book.
The public must face the fact that, except for the few who die during
their terms, all prisoners return to the free world. Whether they
return as criminals or as productive citizens is determined, to a
large degree, by our prisons. Aside from humanitarian reasons, a
concern about the wise investment of public money should make an
increased awareness of our penal system's shortcomings a matter of
interest. Until the public develops an interest in prisons, and has a
better understanding of what modern penology can do, very little
progress can be made.88
The knowledge gained by scholars through the study of various
subgenres of advocacy journalism has provided great historical
insight into the power of the press. Through the examination of the
Rikers Review and other jailhouse publications, historians can
achieve a more complete picture of the influence and authority
commanded by advocacy journalism in addition to the vast role such
publications played in history.
1 Rikers Review, November 1939.
2 James McGrath Morris, Jailhouse Journalism The Fourth Estate Behind
Bars (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998).
3 James McGrath Morris, Jailhouse Journalism The Fourth Estate Behind
Bars (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998); Russell N.
Baird, The Penal Press (Northwestern University Press, 1967); and
Eleanor Novek, "The Devil's Bargain Censorship, Identity and the
Promise of Empowerment in a Prison Newspaper," Journalism, 6 (2005).
4 Nancy Roberts, "'Ten Thousand Tongues' Speaking for Peace: Purposes
and Strategies of the Nineteenth-Century Peace Advocacy Press,"
Journalism History 21, no. 1 (Spring 1995); Frankie Hutton and
Barbara Straus Reed, eds. Outsiders in the 19th –Century Press
History: Multicultural Perspectives. (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State University Popular Press, 1995); Henry Vance Davis, "The
Critique of the Influence of the Socioeconomic Environment on the
Black Press, 1900-1928," The Black Scholar 22, no. 4 (Fall 1992);
Sherilyn Cox Bennion. 1995. The woman suffrage press of the West. In
Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History, edited by Frankie Hutton and
Barbara Straus Reed, 169-186. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press; Luebke, Barbara F. 1995. Elias Boudinot and
'Indian Removal.' In Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History, edited
by Frankie Hutton and Barbara Straus Reed, 115-144. Bowling Green,
OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.
5 Nancy Roberts, "'Ten Thousand Tongues' Speaking for Peace: Purposes
and Strategies of the Nineteenth-Century Peace Advocacy Press,"
Journalism History 21, no. 1 (Spring 1995), 6.
6 In contrast to prison journalism, which has received little
recognition throughout its lifetime, prison poetry is a fairly
popular form of creative writing, often published in volumes readily
available to the public.
7 Russell N. Baird, The Penal Press (Northwestern University Press, 1967).
8 Russell N. Baird, The Penal Press (Northwestern University Press, 1967).
9 James McGrath Morris, Jailhouse Journalism The Fourth Estate Behind
Bars (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998).
10 A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities has allowed
the New York Public Library to obtain a large portion of the Rikers
Review. Admittedly, the earliest issues of the publication were
unavailable for viewing, though this author believes their essence
can be pulled from those available works.
11 Jennifer Wynn, Inside Rikers (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001), 11.
12 Frankie Hutton and Barbara Straus Reed, eds. Outsiders in the 19th
–Century Press History: Multicultural Perspectives. (Bowling Green,
OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995), 1.
13 Jailhouse journalism, prison publications and penal press are used
synonomously throughout this paper.
14 Frankie Hutton and Barbara Straus Reed, eds. Outsiders in the 19th
–Century Press History: Multicultural Perspectives. (Bowling Green,
OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995), 3.
15 Cornish and Russwurm in 1827 began the first black press
publication, Freedom's Journal.
16 Henry Vance Davis, "The Critique of the Influence of the
Socioeconomic Environment on the Black Press, 1900-1928," The Black
Scholar 22, no. 4 (Fall 1992), 17.
17 Bennion, Sherilyn Cox. 1995. The woman suffrage press of the West.
In Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History, edited by Frankie Hutton
and Barbara Straus Reed, 169-186. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green
State University Popular Press.
18 Also capable of being placed under the genre of advocacy
journalism, the Native American press began in 1828 with the creation
of the Cherokee Phoenix. It is worth noting that although the Native
American press was published by Native Americans, it in some
instances, was used as a tool for assimilation and 'white man's' propaganda.
19 Barbara F. Luebke. 1995. Elias Boudinot and 'Indian Removal.' In
Outsiders in 19th-Century Press History, edited by Frankie Hutton and
Barbara Straus Reed, 115-144. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State
University Popular Press.
20 Forlorn Hope, 31 March 1800, 1.
21 Lasting for less than one year, it is unlikely that Keteltas'
Forlorn Hope had an impact on the changing face of debtors prisons.
It was not until the mid-1800s that the process of jailing debtors
was no longer common practice.
22 Forlorn Hope, 19 April 1800, 4.
23 Ibid.
24 Forlorn Hope, 31 March 1800, 1.
25 New York's Public Library contains issues of Forlorn Hope through
Sept. 6, 1800, though James McGrath Morris and the library list an
end date of Sept. 13, 1800.
26 Forlorn Hope, 19 April 1800, 3.
27 Prison reformer Zebulon Brockway introduced The Summary to the
Elmira Reformatory, Elmira, N.Y., in 1883.
28 Larry E. Sullivan, "The age of progressive reform 1890-1950," in
The Prison Reform Movement: Forlorn Hope (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990).
29 Ibid., 39.
30 Barbara Lavin McEleney, Correctional Reform in New York (Maryland:
University Press of America, 1985), 9. Quoting from a 1931 Report of
the Commission to Investigate Prison Administration and Construction.
31 "Penologist urged to head city jails," New York Times, 20
December, 1933, 16.
32 "R.A.M'Gee Takes Over Rikers Island Jail," New York Times, 2 May 1935, 9.
33 Jennifer Wynn, Inside Rikers (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001), xiii.
34 According to page 5 of the April 1, 1937 issue of the Rikers
Review, the first issue of the publication was August 1936.
35 "M'Goldrick Calls New Prison a Folly," New York Times, 28 October 1934, 24.
36 The February 15, 1936 edition is the first in the collection
housed by the New York City Public Library.
37 The apostrophe in the Riker's Review was eventually dropped.
38 Larry E. Sullivan, "The age of progressive reform 1890-1950," in
The Prison Reform Movement: Forlorn Hope (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1990).
39 Rikers Riview, July 1939, 6.
40 Ibid.
41 Rikers Review, June 1939, 2.
42 It was not uncommon to find un-bylined stories in prison
publications. In the Rikers Review, inmates were sometimes listed by
name, initials, cell block, inmate number, pseudonym, or any
combination thereof. In the case of K.S., '66416' represents his inmate number.
43 Rikers Review, March-April 1939, 10.
44 Rikers Review, February 1939, 10.
45 Rikers Review, June 1939, 4.
46 Rikers Review, 15 February 1937, 2.
47 Rikers Review, 1 April 1937, 3
48 Ibid.
49 Rikers Review, 1 September 1937, 3.
50 Rikers Review, 15 February 1937, 5.
51 Ibid.
52 Rikers Review, 30 September 1938, 11.
53 Ibid., 3.
54 Rikers Review, March-April 1937, 18.
55 James McGrath Morris, Jailhouse Journalism The Fourth Estate
Behind Bars (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998).
56 Ibid., 18.
57 Rikers Review, 1 October, 1937, 2.
58 Rikers Review, 1 April 1937, 3.
59 Rikers Review, 1 March 1937, 1.
60 Rikers Review, 15 February 1937, 6.
61 Rikers Review, July 1939.
62 Rikers Review, 15 February 1939, 9.
63 Rikers Review, 1 March 1937, 8.
64 Rikers Review, 30 June 1938, 13.
65 Rikers Review, 15 April 1937, 4.
66 Rikers Review, 1 February 1938, 7.
67 Rikers Review, 31 August 1938.
68 Rikers Review, 30 June 1938, 3.
69 Rikers Review, 1 May 1938, 5.
70 "Mother Surrenders Escaped Prisoner," New York Times, 9 July 1937, 8.
71 Rikers Review, 30 June 1938, 3.
72 "Prisoner Escapes Rikers Island Jail," New York Times, 12 June 1938, 16.
73 "2 Tons of Copper Gone At City Jail," New York Times, 7 June 1938, 25.
74 Ibid.
75 The differences in the real first name of Two-Gun Bishop are as
stated in two separate editions of the New York Times.
76 "Prisoner Goes on Rampage," New York Times, 23 May 1939, 15.
77 Eleanor Novek, "The Devil's Bargain Censorship, Identity and the
Promise of Empowerment in a Prison Newspaper," Journalism, 6 (2005), 20.
78 "Longer Sentences Jam City Prison," New York Times, 6 March 1938, 37.
79 "Prison Officials See Rikers Island," New York Times, 19 October 1939, 13.
80 Rikers Review, May 1939, 12.
81 Ibid.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid.
84 Ibid.
85 James McGrath Morris, Jailhouse Journalism The Fourth Estate
Behind Bars (North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998).
86 Ibid., 6.
87 In the case of the Rikers Review, this researcher considers the
earliest years to have taken a more moderate approach to advocacy,
considering the amount of institutional material and propaganda that
was published.
88 Russell N. Baird, The Penal Press (Northwestern University Press, 1967), ix.
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