Interviewing from the Inside
Authors: McDonald, K.
Editors: Heywood, E., Berry, R., Bosch, T. and Fox, K.
Volume: 1
Publisher: Peter Lang
Abstract:The broadcast interview is frequently heard on radio and podcasts made about, for and with prisoners. The chapter will draw on interview techniques used in a variety of programmes, genres, international settings and projects. I reflect on the way inmates may experience different roles - as an interviewer, a trainee producer and as a contributor. I consider examples from across different countries, decades and genres - including documentaries, experimental features, soundscapes and podcasts. This research collates lived experiences, opportunities and challenges faced by radio tutors and practitioners, as well as gathering perspectives from former prisoners, and exploring global archive transcripts and audio recordings. Just as the small prisoner radio academic community has developed growing rich and vibrant scholarly investigation over the last thirty years, prisoner radio too has evolved and advanced – reaching more listeners, both inside and outside. International projects can (at the time of writing) be found in Australia, India, Israel, Norway, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Trinadad and Tobago, United Kingdom, and the USA. There are radio stations exclusively and only for people in prison, content co-created with people inside prison for national, local networks or podcasts, and programmes produced in wider community settings (often with formerly incarcerated people) which are available to all.
This is one of the first times the role of the interview has been highlighted in prisoner media research – and I consider this as a starting point to recognising its position and value. I show how the interview can help shape a better understanding of the often-hidden impact of incarceration for prisoners, their family, their community and society. As a communication device, the interview can be used to tell stories in different ways about friendship, family, loss, love and hope - all centred within a justice process that can often be lonely, frightening and intimidating to navigate. Findings reveal that the interview has the potential to be a discursive, powerful and performative space where prisoners can feel heard, valued and empowered.
“Being an interviewer and being interviewed has played a huge part in developing me as a listener and a talker. In my mind, coming out of prison would be the end of my career. But it’s been the complete opposite. It’s given me the chance to explain myself, to be heard, and to be listened to. To showcase what I can do” (Research interview with former prisoner, National Prison Radio, UK).
Involvement in radio projects (and specifically interviewing) can in small ways offer compassion, and creativity - inviting the listener into the often-hidden world of prisons to relate to beautifully crafted, uncomfortable, hopeful, hilarious, traumatic and powerful stories. Prisoners may also use the interview, the radio studio and recording technology as means to establish agency, ownership and control over those who traditionally may hold positions of authority. Audio interviews used in this context can offer a powerful way to express a meaningful and moving description of life from those whose story may be previously silenced or untold.
Source: Manual