Stearns, Teija Rae2014-10-092014-10-092014-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/1846063 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Journalsm and Communications, and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts, Spring 2014.The show "Orange is the New Black," released by Netflix in 2013 and set in a women's prison, received rave reviews and skyrocketed in popularity. Critics lauded the show as a realistic representation of prison. This paper examines the mediated reality of women's prisons, compares past and present representations of women's prisons in the mass media, and examines the prison industrial complex and media effects theories. This paper finds that Orange is the New Black represents a fundamental shift in media discourse and audience interest in the stories of incarcerated women.en-USAll Rights Reserved.Women's prisons on TVPrisonCultivation theoryJournalismPopular cultureTelevisionPrison industrial complexThesis / Dissertation