Media coverage of N.L. correctional officers missing the mark, says study

When asked about the public's perception of his former line of work, retired correctional officer David Harvey sighs.

"We're just so stereotyped," Harvey said.

"What most people know about correctional officers [comes from] either, you know, seeing a movie or TV show. And a lot of times you see this guy walking down a hallway with his baton hitting the bars — and honest to God, you know, a lot of people think that's what we do all day long."

Screen depictions aren't entirely to blame for these stereotypes, according to Harvey. He said local media coverage of correctional officers also plays a large role. And during Harvey's 30-year career at Her Majesty's Penitentiary (HMP) in St. John's — and in the years since his retirement in 2014 — he said media coverage of correctional officers has been "mostly negative."

"A lot of the time the full story never, ever came out," he said.

As an example, Harvey brought up the three correctional officers who intervened during the 2014 prison riot at HMP. In the online footage of the incident, Harvey said, "you can see our correctional officers in there jumping in — no weapons, no nothing — and trying to save people." 

But in the ensuing media coverage of the riot, Harvey said the correctional officers' actions that day were never highlighted.

"You know these positive things that officers do, they're just never, ever brought up," he said. "I don't think anyone's looking for a medal, that's not my thing. You know, people know what they're getting into when they get into this job. But the negativity — it just hurts a lot of people."

Harvey is not alone in his concerns.

According to a recent study, News media framing of correctional officers: "Corrections is so Negative, we don't get any Good Recognition," media coverage is a common source of worry and unease for correctional officers in St. John's. 

Memorial University researchers Rosemary Ricciardelli, Mark Stoddart and Heather Austin interviewed 25 correctional officers employed at HMP in 2019 for the study. The authors also analyzed news articles featuring correctional officers published that year in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Very few news articles had anything positive to say about correctional officers, according to Ricciardelli. She also said the "nuance of the job and the reality of the job" was never discussed.

"Most of [the articles were] relatively negative and often tied to any sort of incident that was occurring down at HMP and other institutions on the island," Ricciardelli said.

Multiple correctional officers spoke about the impact of these media depictions.