Prison, Perception, and the Power of Media

By Sarah Sandak

Media, Bias, and the Prison Narrative

In our modern world, the media plays a large role in shaping society’s opinions. Everyday, millions of people turn on a news channel or flip through a newspaper hoping to be informed about what is currently going on in our world. For many, this is where most of their information about current events is gleaned. One of the most prominent topics being covered in the media today is incarcerated individuals. This is shown in a study done by bipartisan political organization, FWD.us, which found that in the year 2020, over 10,000 articles published by eight major newspapers and wire services, included dehumanizing terminology such as “felon,” “inmate,” and “offender” (Elderbroom et al.). Major institutions such as The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News, along with entertainment giants like Netflix and Warner Bros play a central role in forming these narratives. Film and television are a substantial part of our everyday entertainment.

Use of criminal justice labels by major newspapers, 2020.

On average, Americans consume about six hours of film and television daily, thus, our perceptions and opinions of a certain topic will likely be influenced by what we are exposed to (Stoll). News and film corporations tend to prioritize sensational crime coverage for higher viewership while simultaneously disregarding the harmful stereotypes they are producing. The media’s portrayal of incarcerated individuals serves as a direct detriment to the public’s negative thinking and judgements of the prisoners as well as the prison system as a whole.

Breaking Media Stereotypes: Voices from Behind Bars

Damien Linnane is a formerly incarcerated individual who is now an author, scholar, and activist. He is a prominent voice for challenging the misrepresentation of incarcerated individuals in the media through his role as editor of the magazine Paper Chained, which features art, writing, and stories by prisoners all over the world. The goal of this magazine is to depict the realities of life in prison (Linnane).

Paper Chained issue #6 magazine cover.

Linnane highlights the lack of authentic incarcerated voices in the media which lends a hand to the public viewing incarcerated individuals as dangerous and untrustworthy rather than a person with thoughts and feelings.

Framing Prisoners: The Media Effect

This misrepresentation is also fostered through mass stereotyping and dehumanization as well as selective coverage and neglect of systemic issues (Seligman & Nam). This negative frame that is placed on these people is further reinforcing racialized stereotypes that justify mass incarceration. Crime is usually viewed through a lens of personal responsibility rather than social and geographical context (Bidinotto). This means that people tend to forget how certain factors cause a person to be led to a life of crime and eventually end up in prison. Therefore, our society places the blame on the offender rather than considering what factors led to the crime being committed. The media often feeds this as framing incarcerated people as villains and in turn creates negative judgements and attitudes towards these people. This production of institutionalized bigotry is a direct result of these large institutions, who are meant to be providing their viewers with truthful and credible information, are instead feeding into this false narrative of incarcerated people. Compared to the individual whose opinion may be shaped by their upbringing and the people around them, thus, they are able to form their own beliefs which may differ from what is being presented in the media.

As college students, we likely experience a sense of both social and physical distance from incarceration in general. This distance allows for the limited information that we do receive about incarcerated individuals to shape our perceptions. As a result of the media showcasing fearsome and violent images and stories of prisoners, our view of the prison system and those involved in it are skewed in a negative direction (Yousman). This distorted representation may also lead students to be uninformed supporters of harsher criminal justice policies, as such misrepresentation bolsters public support for policies that encourage longer sentences and less rehabilitation opportunities. Young adults are the future of our society in terms of politics, the media, and culture. Therefore, if their views are shaped by false narratives, there is a risk of perpetuating policies that favor punishment over rehabilitation. Due to the representation of these negative narratives, there is heavy discouragement of empathy towards incarcerated individuals.

How Misrepresentation Hinders Reintegration

When the media distinguishes someone in a negative light, it permanently stigmatizes them. When these individuals are released from prison, they endure an everlasting mark which paints them as violent and dangerous. This misrepresentation in the media continues to augment the difficulty that these people face when trying to reintegrate into society (Gilliard). Both currently and previously incarcerated people have powerful and educational stories of what they have experienced during their time in the criminal justice system. However, very few of these stories are actually published in the media which essentially silences the voices and stories of incarcerated individuals. This lack of incarcerated stories robs the public of the opportunity to better understand the lives and experiences of those who have been incarcerated which continues to fuel the negative stigma surrounding incarcerated people. Misrepresentation in the media in general is very bad for public knowledge since many people rely on the media to form their opinions. This is also lending to the growing and overflowing population in prisons and in order to remedy this, accurate representation is essential for change (Feng & Jiang).

Historical Roots: From Slavery to the War on Drugs

The detriment of systemic bias being placed on incarcerated people and reflected in the media is an issue which dates back to the 1900s. This inequity stems from the root of mass incarceration and the expansion of modern mass media. After the abolishment of slavery in the United States, criminalization began to increase especially among black people. During Richard Nixon’s presidency, the War on Drugs was established with the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1973. The War on Drugs was a campaign enacted by the U.S. government which aimed to fight against the increasing issue of illegal drug use through a rise in penalties, law enforcement efforts, and incarceration of drug offenders.

Protest against the War on Drugs.

The campaign was largely expanded once President Ronald Reagan took office in the 1980s. In 1986, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act was introduced which included mandatory minimum sentences and more extreme penalties on possession of crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine (Willis). This distinction between the two forms of the drug was the catalyst that connected back to the previously abolished slave trade. During this time, African Americans were disproportionately associated with the use of crack cocaine and due to the higher penalties placed on crack cocaine, more African American cocaine users were arrested than whites. For reference, the possession of five grams of crack cocaine resulted in a mandatory minimum sentence of five years while the possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine also included a five year minimum sentence.

Magazine cover highlighting the crack epidemic.

Therefore, someone who possessed crack cocaine would receive the same sentence as someone who possessed 100 times that amount in powder cocaine (England). Media coverage during the War on Drugs greatly magnified drug use, inordinately framing African Americans and other minority groups as criminals and the primary users of illegal drugs. The media was heavily involved in eliciting moral panic over drugs among the public. News coverage during this period aided in the legitimization of increased incarceration of minorities, especially the African American youth. This racialized media portrayal encouraged public support for more severe law enforcement policies and mandatory minimum sentencing which directly affected black communities and added to systemic racial inequalities in incarceration rates (Beckett & Sasson). Another facet of the media that was involved in worsening public opinion of incarcerated individuals was the 1915 film, Birth of a Nation. This film highlighted the influential history of this time period by depicting formerly enslaved people and freed black citizens as criminals. The release of the film encouraged the already widespread stereotype of black men being presented as savage and threatening and directly linked blackness to criminality. The storyline glorified the Klu Klux Klan by justifying its horrific actions against black people and provided legitimacy for discriminatory laws and extrajudicial violence. Thus, Birth of a Nation not only misrepresented African Americans as criminals but also fortified systemic racial inequalities in incarceration and the criminal justice system (“The Influence of “The Birth of a Nation””).

“The Birth of a Nation” film poster.

The film argued that white southerners (the dominant community) had been chosen by God and through divine right which inevitably put them hierarchically above black people in society and reinforced ideas of white supremacy. The movie also strengthened this rhetoric by painting blacks as sexually aggressive, uncivilized, and incapable of responsible self-governance (“The Birth of a Nation and Black Protest — 2012 — Question of the Month — Jim Crow Museum”). Overall, the film employed religious appeals, fearmongering, and dehumanization to rationalize discrimination against black and incarcerated individuals.

Racialized Narratives: From Screen to Prison

While our criminal justice system no longer enforces such intense laws for drug use, African Americans and other minorities continue to be perpetually incarcerated at a higher rate compared to other races. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans make up about 12.63% of the U.S. population while on the other hand, they make up about 38% of the prison population in the United States (“Prisoners in 2022 — Statistical Tables | Bureau of Justice Statistics”). This data suggests that factors such as systemic racism, socioeconomic inequality, and biased sentencing policies play a significant role in incarceration. The media continues to perpetuate this inequity by refusing to create texts and films that reflect the lives of incarcerated individuals and their stories. Both formerly and currently incarcerated people have very limited access to media channels to tell their stories as well as a lack of opportunities to express themselves creatively. The content that the media produces is often controlled by correctional institutions and scripted narratives which restricts the authentic representation of those in prison (Yousman). Also due to the fact that the media renders released offenders as dangerous and untrustworthy, very few people are actually interested in the stories of those who have been previously incarcerated. A text that exemplifies the continued misrepresentation of incarcerated individuals in the media is the novel, Narcomedia: Latinidad, Popular Culture, and America’s War on Drugs by Jason Ruiz. This 2023 novel examines the creation of racialized narratives in the media, focusing specifically on Latinx and minority communities who have been villainized by pop culture in connection to drug enforcement.

“Narcomedia: Latinidad, Popular Culture, and America’s War on Drugs” book cover.

The book closely analyzes films such as Scarface (1983), TV series Miami Vice (1984–89), and more modern narcomedia such as Breaking Bad and Narcos. For example, Ruiz emphasizes how in the television show Narcos, the story of Pablo Escobar, who has been vilified by the U.S. media, was rebranded into a glorified archetype of the glamorized narco figure. The show characterizes Escobar as a charismatic fugitive while in turn downplaying the severity of Colombia’s drug wars (Sandlin). This book underscores the persistent stereotyping and rejection of minorities from authentic representation (Bebout).

Changing the Narrative: Solutions in Action

Many of us have been warned about the dangers of biased media especially pertaining to the news (both printed and digital). In order to combat this, we must make sure that we are critically analyzing and questioning the sources that we get our information from. This practice can help to dismantle distorted narratives of incarcerated individuals created by popular television and film dramas, as well as news reporting. Another way to curb this issue is by utilizing person-first language (labeling people as “incarcerated” instead of “inmates” or “felons”). This linguistic shift humanizes those who are incarcerated by fostering empathy and respect in the public (“People First”). Additionally, encouraging and facilitating journalism by incarcerated people can introduce transparency and genuine stories to help others better understand the obstacles and hardships that those in prison face everyday. Today, organizations such as FWD.us, The Marshall Project, and magazines like Paper Chained actively work to magnify incarcerated voices while challenging media misrepresentation. Individuals who seek to counter this inequity, can explore these platforms, support criminal justice advocacy groups, and participate in media literacy programs. All of these solutions are important and would work well in tandem together to create a more conscious and empathetic society. Although, if we want to break down stereotypical barriers, we must first be open to listening and understanding.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the media plays a powerful role in shaping public perceptions of incarcerated individuals, often manufacturing harmful stereotypes and silencing authentic voices. From sensationalized news coverage to biased films, incarcerated voices are often silenced which further reinforces stigma and mistrust. However, by critically engaging with the media and supporting authentic narratives, society can cultivate empathy and justice.