In the spring of 2023, two journalists drove through North Carolina to meet me at Nash Correctional Facility. Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer—the hosts of the true crime podcast Criminal—had spent about six months pestering the Department of Adult Correction (DAC) for permission to interview me. They wanted to understand my work as the editor of the Nash News (TNN), one of only twenty-one remaining prison newspapers in the United States.
When we finally met, it was in an empty visitation room on a cloudless Monday morning. But we weren’t alone. Two bored associate wardens sat at different tables, watching from opposite angles to make sure no one passed me any contraband. Directly across from me, a DAC communications director sat with his back to the wall, arms crossed, all but staring me down.
Although no administrator had told me what I could or couldn’t say beforehand, the pressure of being watched was enough. Throughout the hour-long interview, I found myself choosing my words carefully and avoiding critiques of the state. ‘What’s the difference between a prison journalist and one in the free world?’ Judge asked at one point, pointing her allotted microphone toward me.