CHAPTER 26. BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, BROADCAST MEDIA AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB Books, newspapers, the broadcast media and the World Wide Web are important means through which prisoners can keep in touch with the outside world. PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS ■ Prisoners should be able to purchase their own books and newspapers. ■ Consideration should also be given to allowing them to purchase or rent a personal radio or television, if living conditions make this appropriate. ■ There should also be communal access to radio and television provided at public expense. Newspapers should also be available in prison libraries. ■ Access to the World Wide Web for the purpose of gathering information and keeping up to date with the news should be available to prisoners. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION In many prisons there are insufficient resources to provide a prison library. Discuss how books might be made available, either by involving local library services or, if they do not exist, by encouraging non-governmental organizations to contribute books. If prisoners are allowed to purchase or rent radios or televisions with their own money, there will be considerations of equity where some have enough money and others do not. Discuss the implications of this problem and how it could be dealt with. Should any restrictions be placed on the newspapers, magazines and books to which prisoners have access? If so, what would be the justification? CASE STUDIES 1. It has been decided that prisoners will be allowed to order newspapers, magazines and books from local publishers and shops. You have been asked to draw up a set of regulations to cover this arrangement. What are the factors which you would have to take into account? 2. A local newspaper report makes reference to the case of a sentenced prisoner and names him. The prisoner insists that what has been written is untrue. He wishes to write to the editor to set the record straight. Should he be allowed to do so? 125