Juan Haines is the kind of old-school editor who's disappearing in American newsrooms. He talks to his reporters face to face. He keeps copious, handwritten notes in an orderly notebook. He's hard-headed when he needs to be; soft and funny when that's called for; a dogged reporter and a thoughtful proofreader. He's intensely familiar with his reporters' beats and the context in which they are working—and he should be. He's eaten, slept, lived, and worked there for 23 years.
I met Haines the first time I visited San Quentin State Prison (where, full disclosure, I am a volunteer). He has worked in various editing positions at San Quentin News, one of the country's only prison newspapers, for almost a decade. There, he helps produce a 20-page paper every month with only a few computers and no Internet access. The results reach 30,000 incarcerated and free subscribers across the United States.
Now Haines is spearheading a new project, Wall City, a magazine of prison culture. We sat down recently at San Quentin's media center to talk about rehabilitation, press freedom, and what journalism can and can't do for incarcerated readers.
[For more on this story by ALISSA GREENBERG, go to https://psmag.com/social-justi...-at-san-quentin-news]
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