It started from a very small base of work with 20 prisons who were making radio of s
ome sort.
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 12:08:12 PM
It may not sound like it's educational sometimes - but think of the amount of effore and training that goes into it.
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 12:09:48 PM
It's not about getting prisoners into classrooms it's about getting content and skills into the cell - delivering the radio to the prisoner
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 12:10:32 PM
Paula Rogers telling us how Prison Radio engages a "Captive Audience" #digifuture
last yr national prison radio service was created, can now communicate with every prison in UK and wales through in-cell TV #digifuture
main messages about a supporting time in custody and re-offending - through enabling, empowering, upskilling #digifuture
Important part of Prison Radio is not just the output but the input - think of what's gone on to make it happen. Education, enablement and empowering people is paramount. People leaving custody are upskilled, they have the skills that will help them to perform in a job interview, engage with their families..
by warriorgrrl_ at 11/19/2009 12:13:42 PM
It's about getting the message across on drugs, it's about practical skills that we can convery about what to do on release; sometimnes we can broadcast job adds for prisoners nearing release.
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 12:13:57 PM
Prison Radio - Engaging a Captive Audience - Paula Rogers - head of prison radio
20 prisons making radio at the beginning
Last year Paula came on board (background at the BBC)
Jack Straw gave go ahead for national prison radio service- through in-cell TVs.
Delivering in-cell messages - supporting time in custody and rehabilitation - educating and empowering - "upskilled", skills and qualifications.
You can genuinely break reoffending through media.
"People do consume radio and television more than they do the internet"
currently rolling out- currently completed the whole of the SW
Broadcasting 24hrs a day. Not necessarily all high quality programming. Working with outside providers and in-house (prison) production - learning production skills as they go.
Long term as well as short term sentences that we're working with. These people need to keep in touch with the skills of the outside world. Consider that some people are going to be missing 20-30 years of digital innovation.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:14:52 PM
Paula says it's about a channel we can talk to prisoners on and it's also about involving them in producing work.
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 12:14:58 PM
Prisoners sharing their experiences, learning processes - producers and presenters.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:15:46 PM
Impressed with Paula's approach - standing among the audience and engaging with them effectively. She is so genuinely passionate about this stuff.
by warriorgrrl_ at 11/19/2009 12:16:16 PM
Prison radio is not mandatory listening- it has to be interesting and relevant. Important to engage with people "at the user end" - produce radio they want to listen to.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:16:49 PM
"Every cell can be a classroom"
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:17:31 PM
"Anywhere can be a learning environment."
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:17:47 PM
'making sure that everyone no matter what stage they are in their life or their sentence can be involved ' #digifuture
"We can educate people in ways that may seem insignificant to us - but it can make an enormous amount of difference"
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:18:23 PM
We want to be able to educate people in-cell - to participate, listen and get accreditation #digifuture
by amandagore at 11/19/2009 12:18:34 PM
In the afternoon 'knowledge cafe's Paula will be showing people some of the content that prisoners are producing.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 12:18:58 PM
Rachel Thomson talking bout Storybook Dads- where prisoners were taught how to tell stories on DVD for kids at home #digifuture
We are now using this blog to follow the live discussion circle - Knowledge Cafe
by brian_condon at 11/19/2009 1:45:54 PM
Paula Roberts talking about applying her experience to the workshop participants' questions and queries.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:49:13 PM
Someone asking for particular success stories. Paula - one of the things we always ask when prisoners come onto the prison radio course - it's not set up with entering the media industry as a goal - but rather in order to cultivate 'soft skills' - interview technique, speaking in a more formal or public setting etc.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:51:12 PM
Simple success stories, a guy from Wandsworth who heard an ad on prison radio for housing - was then able to find housing when leaving, and is returning for an interview on the process of leaving.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:53:38 PM
A lot of people in prison feel betrayed by education - prison radio gets people involved in a different kind of education - many of them move into more formal kinds of study.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:54:02 PM
Prison radio can also allow prisoners to open up - in an intimate and one-to-one setting, stories about coming off drugs and of education and learning can be much more powerful than adverts and propaganda.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:56:41 PM
The afternoon gearing up at #digifuture
http://twitpic.com/q3m63http://twitpic.com/q3mcn - Knowledge cafe getting underway #digifuture
Monitoring uptake in a prison atmosphere is very hard - there needs to be an investment before you garner (what is largely anecdotal) evidence of efficacy.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 1:58:36 PM
Questioner asking the extent to which and the motivations of older (nearing retirement) prisoners getting involved in the prison radio system.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:00:03 PM
You tend to find that older people in prison are "better educated, and committing different kinds of offences" (also admitted this is a generalistion) - they are more interested in stories, poetry, experiences on prison radio
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:01:20 PM
It's also about bringing younger people into speech radio and community sharing.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:03:06 PM
There's two levels of programming on this system - national out-sourced shows, and the local prison community generated content.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:05:46 PM
Question: how do you sustain the quality of programming?
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:06:13 PM
Answer: funding, funding, funding. Particualrly hard for prison systems to get funding- most of the funding is garnered through education, learning and skills services.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:07:06 PM
"prisoners feel betrayed by formal education-prison radio gets people involved in a diff kind of learning" #digifuture
http://bit.ly/WbFUcThere's a problem with getting this content online however -
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:08:53 PM
Broadcast license restrictions, and victim issues (ethics). There is also a responsibility to protect victims from agressors etc.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:09:38 PM
Q - Are you missing contact with family and friends with those concerns in mind?
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:10:11 PM
A - prisoners are able to take copies of their content with them, also working on projects where prisoners produce content for locally broadcast community radio stations. However each prisoners' voice you broadcast you have to contact any victims and go through their history carefully .
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:11:46 PM
You can also advertise in order to fund the project- but you have to be careful with the content.
by hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:13:41 PM
Paula Roberts is very eager for anyone with a potential project to get in contact and get involved with prison radio
hmprisonservice.gov.ukby hannahnicklin at 11/19/2009 2:16:39 PM
Group 2 discussion begins
by warriorgrrl_ at 11/19/2009 2:18:18 PM
by hannahnicklin via Twitpic at 11/19/2009 1:57:08 PM
by amandagore via Twitpic at 11/19/2009 1:57:24 PM