Representations of Correctional Reform: An Analysis of Prisons in the News

• In Event: Media and Public Policy

Abstract

Media representations of prison serve as invaluable sources of information to many, yet news coverage has traditionally been limited and overwhelmingly negative. After decades of binging on imprisonment, reform is in the air, but how well has the news media captured the nature of these changes? The purpose of this study is to examine whether negative correctional stereotypes continue to dominate news coverage of the correctional system or whether it has been replaced with reform discourse. LexisNexis is used to identify articles reporting on U.S. prisons and proposed reforms during 2015. The articles are examined to determine which issues are being addressed and how correctional reform is currently framed by the news media.

Author

• Dawn K. Cecil, University of South Florida St. Petersburg