christopher etienne

Prison Journalism Project. Our mission is to help incarcerated and incarceration-impacted writers tell stories about their communities with nuance, texture and insight and bring their stories to light. Journalism wields enormous power by choosing who and what to highlight. Today, stories about prisons, prisoners and the criminal justice system are largely negative and written almost entirely with an outside perspective. We are creating a space for incarcerated and incarceration-impacted writers to take the power of journalism into their own hands because no one can write about the prison system and life behind bars better than those who have experienced it. Our goal is to achieve equity in coverage. We call it journalism justice. Specifically, we aim to increase the volume and quality of voices in the conversation about criminal justice and incarceration through access, collaboration and education. By bridging the gaps in information, we believe they can shift the narrative and help change the prison system. 

Info and contact information:

www.prisonjournalismproject.org; Twitter: @prisonjourn and Facebook/Instagram: @prisonjournalism. 

Christopher Etienne, Multimedia director

Christopher is a multimedia strategist. Educated as a documentary filmmaker at Columbia Journalism School and an Africana studies historian at Rutgers University, he uses journalism and storytelling to shed light on injustice and raise awareness about social issues. As a first-generation Haitian in the inner cities of New Jersey, he experienced both poverty and incarceration. His background inspired him to seek ways to create meaningful change through his work with organizations such as NJ STEP, Rutgers, the Renaissance House, and Brooklyn CRAN Network. Link to Christopher’s spoken word piece, “Click Bang” here.