Tactic: Jamaicans blog for Prison Reform

Written by Talia on May 15, 2008 – 1:09 am -


view of the entrance area of Tower Street Adult Correctional Center in Jamaica

Description: Jamaica has one of the most controversial criminal justice systems in the world. There have been reports of overcrowded prisons throughout the Caribbean island. In recent months a Jamaican nonprofit has made strides to give prisoners training on how to use citizen media to document their grievances.

Tools Being Used: blogs, Flickr, podcast

What They Are Doing: The S.E.T Foundation, a grantee of Rising Voices, is a program that works with prisons to reduce recidivism, by helping prisoners become productive citizens after they are released. As part of the Prison Diaries project, prisoners will be trained on how to use the group blog, as well as edit their own audio and video clips. Prisoners are also using Flickr to post photos. The goal of the project is to give the world a reality check about Jamaica’s prison system.

Through blogging, inmates are able to tell their stories,” said SET Foundation leader Kevin Wallen. “They are able to paint a realistic picture of life behind bars and the consequences of crime. Currently, Jamaica’s music and media idolize the badman or shotta and portray as role models those who have been incarcerated. Many of our youths now think that prison is a cool place to be, until they themselves are faced with the harsh truth. The Diary of an Inmate blog will allow all Jamaicans to learn about the realities of Jamaica’s overcrowded prison system with the hope that this will counteract the false ideas implanted by the media.

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DigiActive News: Radio Interview (in Australia!)

Written by Mary on April 12, 2008 – 11:08 pm -

Last week, DigiActive Co-Founder Mary Joyce was interviewed for the Australian community radio program The Fourth Estate with Daz Chandler. You can take a listen below by clicking the green arrow:

Topics discussed include the motivation for founding DigiActive, examples of how activists are using Facebook to organize international protests, whether digital activism is elitist, and why it’s a good idea to use online commercial tools for activism.


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