[View the story "Blogging from \"Between the Bars\"" on Storify ]Blogging from "Between the Bars" MIT Ph.D. students offer U.S. prison inmates a way to share their experiences with an online audience. Storified by The Stream · Wed, Oct 26 2011 21:59:34
Between the Bars is a blogging platform for one out of every 142 Americans---prisoners---that makes it easy to blog on paper, using standard postal mail. It consists of software tools to make it easy to upload PDF scans of letters, crowd-sourced transcriptions of the scanned images, and the usual full-featured blogging tools including comments, tagging, RSS feeds, and notifications for friends and family when new posts are available.civic.mit.edu
The
site notes the project allows prisoners to maintain a connection with the outside world.
We are designing this system for prisoners in the US, a growing population that is routinely denied access to broadcast media. We hope that prisoners will be able to use this platform to tell their stories, to maintain social connections to the outside world, and to retain a sense of identity and humanity through the process of their incarceration.civic.mit.edu
“Faced with all these sort of forms of cultural exclusion, it’s little wonder that recidivism rates are so high,” Detar said. But, importantly -- and the reason for the project -- “prisoners that do have a stronger connection with the outside world, and who maintain an identity as citizens, instead of just miscreants, are much less likely to commit more crimes.”news.change.org
Here are examples of the blogs
posted .
Between the Bars Blogajestream
Between the Bars : Itbetweenthebars.org
Between the Bars : News-Story — Derrick Tuckerbetweenthebars.org
Between the Bars also calls for user-generated transcriptions, prompting stronger online interaction.
Between the Bars relies on visitors to transcribe its bloggers' posts. You can help us out by signing up and logging in, and starting to transcribe posts that interest you. Transcriptions make the blogs more accessible to search engines, translators and visitors. betweenthebars.org
Site creators
Benjamin Mako Hill and
Charlie DeTa say the source code will be free for public use, and a how-to guide on the code use will be provided as well.
Early code available on local server; networking with prisons still in early stages. Next steps include: * Finishing the core functionality of the code and to improve the visual presentation of the site * Networking with local prisoner support organizations who can help evaluate the design and connect us to initial users (expected to be accomplished within 6 months) * Bringing the site live to the general public (expected by year's end).civic.mit.edu
One user predicts how this blog could be adapted to accommodate a global audience.
I see the potential of this project. You could use this in poor countries where many people cannot blog in their local languages due to browser language support and other technical limitations. You could use this system to get the word out. I am interested is exploring further when the all the features of the software are made public.civic.mit.edu
Despite the lack of internet access, there are currently several inmate blogs available online.
Right now, someone here in this dorm is getting the living daylights beat out of him. It’s happening in the 3rd floor dayroom, and I’m in the 2nd floor dayroom. I can’t see anything that’s going on, but I can hear it. I think the very abbreviated version of this story is that some guy was caught stealing and is now getting “D’ed Up”. “D” stands for discipline. Stealing amongst inmates is completely not tolerated.andysprisontime.blogspot.com
As I left the dining hall one recent evening, another prisoner walked up beside me and, with slitted eyes and a foreign accent, asked whether the officers were going to run the evening medical showers in the bathhouse on the east or the west side of the unit. West side, I said, and he slowly shook his head, disappointed because the security is generally tighter at the west side bathhouse. And, of course he was planning to sneak in the shower, out of place.prisonproxy.blogspot.com
Prison inmates just have to be weary of legal ramifications and probable site shut downs.
The Texas Prisoner Journalajestream
