Is ”Serial” Guilty ... of Bad Journalism? w/Rebecca Lavoie & Janet Varney

Journos

News from the "Wrongs Righted" Desk ~~

Adnan Syed, imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit, was released after 23 years in prison. If you've heard of Syed, it's from the podcast "Serial," which kick-started the ... trend? genre? industry? ... of longform podcasting.

But is it good journalism? After "Serial" premiered in 2014, questions arose about its accuracy; "Serial" creator Sarah Koenig's reporting focused on aspects of the story that made Syed look guilty (or just made the story look better) and ignored some crucial evidence that argued for his innocence. In the years since, there's been a lot of critique (and other podcasts) that have not only poked holes in the prosecution's story, but also "Serial" itself. And yet, now that Syed is out, all eyes will once again be pointed toward that flawed but very influential podcast, which has never corrected its mistakes.

We're getting into that today. But first, a missing person's case: Stephen is on vacation, y'all! So Brandon invited on two guests for a JOURNOS chat about the Adnan Syed case, the legacy of "Serial," and podcasting as a form of journalism.

Get deep into the weeds with Rebecca Lavoie of the podcast "Crime Writers On," and friend of the show (and sometime Elizabeth Holmes) Janet Varney, who cohosts the podcast "Truth & Justice" with Bob Ruff.

In the case of Adnan Syed, justice has been served, but it raises all kinds of questions about responsibility in journalism, the state of podcasting, and who gets to be the final authority on telling someone's story.

NOTES

A couple of true-crime podcasts get discussed in this ep, all excellent: "Undisclosed" is the one that corrected the flaws with the "Serial" story, co-hosted by Rabia Chaudry, without whom "Serial" might not exist in its current form, and without whom Syed might still be in prison.

We also talk about "Bear Brook," "Suspect," and "In the Dark." "In the Dark" is especially noteworthy since the reporting that went into that podcast was used as evidence to convince the Supreme Court to overthrow the conviction of Curtis Flowers, which says a hell of a lot about the potential of the humble podcast to make a difference.