Josh Shaffer of the News and Observer highlighted friend of Emancipate NC, Phillip Vance Smith’s work and recent Prison Journalist of the Year Award:
Last week, Smith took Prison Journalist of the Year honors at the Stillwater Awards, presented in part by the Society of Professional Journalists. Judges noted his ability to interview multiple sources and draw out compelling quotes — a chore for any reporter, let alone one living behind razor wire. ‘It’s definitely nice to be recognized,’ he told me on a call from Neuse Correctional Institution in Goldsboro. ‘To be honest, prison journalism is really thankless work. Most of the people that I serve time with, they never see what I write.’
Over the phone, I asked Smith if he had a favorite story. Every journalist does. He told me his best work wasn’t really even journalism but a legislative bill that he and another prisoner proposed in the NC Law Review. If it passed, it would give prisoners serving life sentences a path to parole after 20 years, provided they completed 15 years’ worth of work and school requirements. It has never made it out of committee. But like any journalist, Smith welcomes the chance to tell stories, to shed light, to use his voice for more than hollering at the darkness. ‘Please don’t make me look bad, sir,’ he asked as he hung up the phone.