Committing Journalism: The Prison Writings of Red Hog

by Peter Y. Sussman and Dannie Martin

Book Overview

Committing Journalism collects more than fifty essays by famed convict-writer Dannie Martin, a.k.a. "Red Hog" --hard-hitting, eloquent reports on the racism, brutality, inadequate health care, harassment, and other conditions of life behind the prison walls. When they first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle they made Martin a celebrity--and eventually the Bureau of Prisons tried to silence him. Peter Sussman, Martin's editor at the Chronicle,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393313220
• ISBN13: 9780393313222
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Seeing through prison walls

Dannie Martin was an old-time con -- he robbed banks, he didn't rat on his partners and he did his time by minding his own business. Until a stint in the federal prison system led him to send a story to the San Francisco Chronicle, where Peter Sussman, editor of the Datebook section of the paper, published it. And that's when the trouble started. Dannie's clear-eyed unapologetic but fearless snapshots of prison life exposed the outrages committed by guards and administrators. This led the federal Bureau of Prisons to crack down on him and in turn led the Chronicle to sue the prison system on the behalf of Dannie and the paper's First Amendment rights. His book, a collection of the stories he wrote for the Chronicle, gives the reader an eye-opening look behind prison walls - at prisoners coping with AIDS, with drug addiction, and with a heartless and sometimes brainless system.

committed journalism

Well, what every time happens when one read a good book is, that lots of question are leaved unansvered, and that is the good thing, reader should use brain of his own in some matters. As some other reviewer said, this indeed is an insightful book. for those of you out there who think that democracy is the just system and that everybody in it receives justice ot whatever interpretation of the word you have in mind, this is the book for you. You'll learn that line beetween just and unjust is often so thin that one could say it does not exist. Stretching the concepts of right, and humane, of liberality, justice, crime and punishment, this is the book that should be read by every person who thinks the worls is set in order. Don't take me wrong, this is not some kind of anarchistic manifesto, or political pamfleth, this is the book that was written by a man who had an "inside information in system" and inside iformation being the criminal, prisoner even. Read the book and you will not regret it.

Amazing but True

In this book, Dannie Martin and Peter Sussman have done more to shed light on the idiocy of our prison system than any other book I have read on the subject.Dannie Martin is a convicted criminal, and I expected the usual whining about the system and how he got a poor trial, etc. Instead, what I found was a series of insightful articles written about the prison system by someone who has the ultimate in first hand knowledge. Interwoven with that was the story of the Federal Bureau of Prisons attempts to quiet the man who was exposing their dirty laundry.Dannie Martin is a natural writer with a wonderful sense of humor. Far from being dry, this book was extremely readable and enjoyable. I think anyone who is helping to foot the bill for the Federal Prison system needs to read this book!!

A book that can change your perception of prisons overnight.

This book should be required for all politicians who vote against prison reform. Seldom have I experienced the range of emotions that this book instilled-rage, indignation,joy,sadness and shame. The authors should be encouraged to give us more of the truth about our "correctional (?) system.

An inspiring tale of a search for truth and a second chance

Committing Journalism:The Prison Writings of Red Hog written by Dannie M. Martin and Peter Y. Sussman tells the story of an essential First Amendment struggle. This collection of over fifty essays and the narrative of the struggles that they are born from, is a gripping survey of the brutal existence inside our prisons. Martin blossomed as a writer while behind bars. He left jail in 1995 with a profession and a chance to create positive energy in a world that he had previously only rebelled against. If only for the surreal drama of his suppression after touching a raw nerve in both the penal system and readers of his regular column in the San Fransisco Chronicle, the book is a must read. Yet, the eloquence and poignance of his reports demonstrate the power of finding the heart of any matter and communicating it with the skills of an accomplished journalist.