Monday, August 06, 2018

[038] ‘MTSU On the Record’ explores media interpretations of prisons

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —The next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program will put the media’s depiction of correctional facilities into focus.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Katie Foss, an associate professor of journalism, will air from 9:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, and from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org.

Foss is the editor of “Demystifying the Big House: Exploring Prison Experience and Media Representations,” a collection of academic essays about various aspects of prison life and the differences between reality and the images projected through movies and television.

“On the one hand, we’re definitely seeing the darker side of incarceration, certainly more about prison violence and some of the issues faced, I would say, by the underfunding of prisons,” Foss said. “But, at the same time, it’s still very much a distorted view that still features prison guards largely as the good guys, like they were in the past.”

Essay topics include death row inmates, prisoners’ wives, breastfeeding in prison, transgender inmates, volunteers who work behind bars and the Netflix program “Orange is the New Black.”

In addition to Foss, MTSU contributors include Clare Bratten, a professor emerita of electronic media communication, and Meredith Dye, an associate professor of sociology.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://bit.ly/mtsu-otr.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800. 

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