Simplifying Reality: The Media’s Portrayal of the Private Prison Debate

Abstract

Although the media gives considerable attention to prison privatization, there have been few assessments of how newspapers portray the debate about it and how that portrayal aligns with what is known empirically about private prisons. This study addresses this gap in the literature by undertaking a content analysis of newspaper articles ( N = 131) about private prisons and private Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, respectively. The results show that few news stories discuss the broad range of factors that scholars highlight as important aspects of the privatization debate. It is also uncommon for news reports, especially those that discuss private immigration facilities, to refer to empirical research or its importance. The implications of this limited portrayal of private facilities are discussed.

Talking Past Each Other: The Debate Over College‐Level Prison Education As Represented in New York Print Media, 2013–2020

“…Following the coding strategy of Montes et al. (2020), I also tracked whether specific frames were invoked explicitly or implicitly. Such a strategy responded to scholarship suggesting that news coverage tends to avoid explicit, nuanced discussions of matters relating to race and either class, wealth, and/or poverty (Bowman 2018; Kim et al.…”

“…Beyond the implications this study has for future research relating to higher education in prison, it also has potential implications relating to its conceptual design and methodology. As many have observed-most notably for the purposes of this study, Burkhardt (2014) and Montes et al (2020)-news media have a propensity to oversimplify debates relating to matters of criminal justice. Aligning with these findings, this study has demonstrated the lack of a fully nuanced moral framing of the debate within the media, as opposed to a much more frequently invoked (and more easily comprehended) instrumental framing.…”

“…If Montes et al. (2020) are correct in claiming that media coverage frequently oversimplifies debates and ignores nuance, it is crucial to explore how such patterns may impact the debate over higher education in prison. The specific ways in which programs and policies are defended not only is likely to impact their long‐term prospects for survival, but also may bear on the types of educational opportunities made available inside prisons.…”

“…In aiming to better understand how such debates are (re)presented to the public, extensive scholarship has examined how matters of criminal justice are portrayed in the media (e.g., Burkhardt 2014; Gruenewald and Hipple 2021; Montes et al. 2020). Montes et al.…”

“I Don’t Want to Die in Here”: Absence and Vulnerability in COVID-19 News Coverage of Prisons

“…Contemporary news articles perpetuate “traditional definitions of newsworthiness,” by centering around the “dangers of prison,” reinforcing stereotypes about prison, which paints incarceration as the primary solution to reducing crime ( Cecil, 2019 , p. 230). Reporting tends to oversimplify other salient topics (such as privatization of prisons), suggesting a disconnect between real life debates and their mediated coverage ( Cecil, 2017 ; Montes et al, 2020 ). Overall, media typically constructs prison populations as other – marginalized either through deviance or through absence.…”