Until the fall of 2021, Prison Journalism Project’s stories had only been available online, which made it hard for us to share them with our writers inside the walls. We typically send our writers copies of their stories after they are published, but they wanted to read each other’s stories, and we wanted them to learn from each other as well. That led to the launch of PJP Inside, our award-winning print newspaper.
Each issue, we select stories that reflect PJP’s best content. You’ll find news reports and commentary on current events happening in and outside prison, and essays and poetry on topics ranging from mental health to family relationships. We curate each digest to include work from first-time and regular contributors from all corners of the country.
In keeping with PJP’s educational mission, each story includes a brief note with each selection to explain what drew us to the piece. We also offer an extended Learn section, to provide targeted instruction on important journalism skills. In past issues we’ve taught how to pitch a story and how to produce surveys inside. One recurring feature of the Learn section, called The Anatomy of a Story, features annotations by our PJP J-School faculty, to show what works well in a sample story and what kinds of suggestions an editor might suggest for improvement.
In the spring of 2022 PJP Inside received an Award of Excellence from the Society of News Design for front page design for its fall 2021 issue. Designed by Cait Palmiter and edited by PJP Director Kate McQueen, PJP Inside was one of approximately 800 out of 3,500 entries to be honored by the 43rd edition of SND’s Best of Print News Design competition.
PJP Inside was also honored with a Community Champion Award in the small newsroom division from the Institute of Nonprofit News (INN) in September 2022.
We currently publish PJP Inside four times a year. You’ll find PDFs of all of our issues below.
Request A Copy
Prison Journalism Project has a limited quantity of our print newspaper to share with educational programs, organizations that work with incarcerated communities and incarceration-impacted writers. To request a copy, send an email with your name and mailing address to pjp-inside@prisonjournalismproject.org.
If you are affiliated with a program or organization, add your title, name of affiliation and number of copies desired. We will do our best to send you enough copies for each student or member of your community.
You are always welcome to share printed copies of the PDF version under a Creative Commons license for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to republish an excerpt in a book or other publication, please contact Prison Journalism Project.
Latest Issue
Previous Issues
Volume 3, Issue 2 (Summer 2023)
Volume 3, Issue 1 (Spring 2023)
Volume 2, Issue 2 (Fall 2022)
Volume 2, Issue 1 (Spring 2022)
Volume 1, Issue 1 (Fall 2021)