About PJP J-School

Journalism has the power to change minds, unearth truths in hidden communities and shine a light on challenges and inequities in society. But it’s extremely difficult for prison writers to break into mainstream journalism because our writers do not have access to the kind of journalism training the industry requires. We intend to fill that gap. 

PJP J-School’s educational programs and material are designed to meet the needs of incarcerated writers from varied educational backgrounds. We aim to identify talent and potential at every level, and we try to outreach to underrepresented communities within the incarcerated population, including people on death row, women and others who may not have educational opportunities inside. 

In summer 2021, we launched PJP J-School, our first correspondence-based journalism course tailored for prison writers with a cohort of 15 students around the country. Our faculty of veteran journalists and journalism educators works closely with our students to train them in the basics of journalistic writing, reporting and AP style.

We also provide training to help support prison newspaper initiatives and have plans to develop advanced training for seasoned writers looking to break into influential, mainstream press. Our curriculum is continually evolving as we consider the unique challenges and restrictions faced by writers inside. One pilot initiative we are launching this fall is PJP x Inside, a print paper embedded with training tips for incarcerated writers and their communities.

We will be updating this page with journalism education resources, including a syllabus bank.

Beyond programs in which we work directly with our writers, we work with prison education programs to expand journalism courses inside. We also work with high school teachers and university professors to incorporate our stories into their curricula. 

Please note that PJP J-School enrollment is currently invitation only and there is no application process. We select students from among our writers based on the work they have published on our online magazine. If you or a loved one is impacted by incarceration and interested in our J-School program, the best way to be considered is to begin submitting articles and stories to PJP for publication.

With funding, we hope to be able to offer our courses more broadly.