A recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program put the media’s depiction of correctional facilities into focus.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Katie Foss, an associate professor of media studies in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, first aired Aug. 7 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and www.wmot.org. You can listen to their conversation above.

Dr. Katie Foss

Foss is the editor of “Demystifying the Big House: Exploring Prison Experience and Media Representations,” a collection of academic essays about various aspects of prison life and the differences between reality and the images projected through movies and television.

“On the one hand, we’re definitely seeing the darker side of incarceration, certainly more about prison violence and some of the issues faced, I would say, by the underfunding of prisons,” Foss said.

“But, at the same time, it’s still very much a distorted view that still features prison guards largely as the good guys, like they were in the past.”

Essay topics include death row inmates, prisoners’ wives, breastfeeding in prison, transgender inmates, volunteers who work behind bars and the Netflix program “Orange is the New Black.”

In addition to Foss, MTSU contributors include Drs. Clare Bratten, a professor emerita of electronic media communication, and Meredith Dye, an associate professor of sociology.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about the radio program, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.