By Sarah Calams
LIMON, Colo. — The country’s first statewide prison radio station run by inmates, for inmates launched Tuesday – live from a studio at Limon Correctional Facility.
Inside Wire: Colorado Prison Radio, a project funded by the University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative, is created and produced by inmates serving at the Limon Correctional Facility, Sterling Correctional Facility and Denver Women’s Correctional Facility, CBS Denver reported. The radio station is available to all Colorado Department of Corrections inmates. Its aim is to create community and purpose, according to the report.
“There’s so many people inside who are on a journey of positive change and to be able to play a small part in that is really an honor,” said Ryan Conarro, Inside Wire general manager and program director. “It’s such a fundamental human need to share a story, to feel heard, and it’s been particularly potent as we move through the pandemic here.”
Anthony Quintana, a Limon Correctional Facility inmate, says he believes the station is an “opportunity to really change the stigmas of what prison is.”
“I might not change how people feel about me, which is understandable, but I want to live my life in a way that honors those people that I harmed, and if I can do that by changing and helping other people through this platform and letting them know the paths not to go down, I’m going to do that,” Quintana said.
Inmates will broadcast 24 hours a day, including a weekday morning music show, daily announcements, news and weekly special shows. The University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative plans to add more radio production in additional facilities after Tuesday’s launch.
Inside Wire is available to the public – listen here.