Chaffey College students in the California Institution for Men will soon be publishing news stories and hosting podcasts under a new associate's degree program in the prison. It is one of the first journalism degree programs offered by a California community college inside a California prison.
Chaffey has been offering certificates and degrees in state prisons since 2004 when its Rising Scholars program started in the California Institution for Women, and later expanded to CIM. Chaffey began working with officials from California State University Los Angeles about a year ago to offer a transferrable associate's degree that would pair well with their CIM Bachelor of Arts in Humanities. Chaffey chose journalism.
“We were hoping to attract 25 students in the first class, and we ended up getting 50,” said Ian Jones, professor of journalism and English.
Some of the new journalism students hope to one day become professional writers. Ryann Jones said he enrolled in the program to broaden his horizons and for the challenge.
“I also want to become a better writer. I want to make my family proud – my wife, my kids, my mom, myself,” he said.
Jones saw an opportunity to further enhance the program through a Scripps Howard Fund grant, supporting journalism programs in community colleges. With the $15,000 grant Chaffey received, the college will be able to assemble a team of journalism students from the Rancho Cucamonga campus to work with the CIM students – providing support in research, data collection and digital publishing. The fellowship will officially launch in September.
“They'll need help with posting, editorial work and research because they don't have access to the Internet,” Jones said. “If they need statistics for a story, they have a team of outside journalists who can help.”
Lionel Getten, who served as editor-in-chief for Chaffey's newspaper The Breeze earlier this year, said he is excited that the newspaper will get to collaborate with CIM writers, and help them get job skills to succeed post release.
“I can only hope that our program sets the standard of journalism's goal, which is to provide accurate and trustworthy information from an equitable perspective,” Getten said. “After all, what's more equitable than giving an overlooked demographic the opportunity to thrive?”
It's the second award Chaffey's journalism program received in about two months. The Chronicle of Philanthropy awarded The Breeze $10,000 in May to report on the college's $25 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
The inmates are taking beginning journalism courses now to learn the basics on reporting and writing for news stories. Jones says he is working with the prison to dedicate spaces for recording podcasts and producing news stories – digitally, on paper or both.
Students from Chaffey's newspaper will do their own reporting on CIM, taking on feature stories about Rising Scholars students at Chaffey's Rancho Cucamonga campus. Rising Scholars serves on-campus students who are formerly incarcerated and are either starting or continuing their education upon release.
For CIM students, the expanded program provides them opportunities that can translate to jobs once they are paroled, Jones said.
“There's definitely an opportunity for these students – who don't have much of a chance to engage with the outside world – to make their stories known, and get their stories out there,” Jones said.
Photos from Chaffey CIM commencement ceremonies are available for download onlinewith credit to the California Department of Corrections.
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SOURCE Chaffey College
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