In October 2014, the first episode of This American Life’s podcast “Serial” was released.
Sarah Koenig, investigative journalist and host of the wildly popular podcast, dedicated a year of her life to figuring out where a high school boy was for approximately 21 minutes after school one day in 1999.
The podcast made waves and captured the attention of millions of listeners. According to Apple, there has been an estimated 40 million downloads of the podcast since Dec. 2014.
Senior English major Kayla Johnston praised Koenig’s original podcasts and her amazing storytelling skills.
“Koenig does a great job pulling in the listener and making them feel like they are a part of the story, even giving them practical steps and email updates about the story and what listeners can do to get involved,” Johnston said.
“Serial” was popular not just because of Koenig’s informed, amazing storytelling skills, but also for its postproduction edits and unfathomable sources, such as the Taliban, who spoke with Koenig in season two of “Serial.”
Season two focuses on the popular story of U.S. Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was held captive by the Taliban for five years.
Koenig went to Baltimore for three days in order to cover the hearing of Adnan Syed, which was sparked by her podcasts.
“The latest hearing was not a trial, but a motion hearing that turned into a ‘mini-trial,’ as both sides called witnesses to try to determine if Syed had ineffective counsel in his original trial,” said Douglas Hume, J.D., professor of political science and pre-law at APU.
During the five-day process, Asia McClain, the ‘nowhere-to-be-found alibi’ commonly referenced in season one, testified. McClain gave Syed an alibi for the day and time of his ex-girlfriend’s murder. A Baltimore veteran defense attorney was also called to the stand.
“I think they did the best that they could by calling an expert witness who testified that the services his original lawyer provided were below the standard of care for defense attorneys,” Hume said.
Although the hearing appeared to go well for Syed, the same cannot be said for Koenig’s mini-podcasts.
The mini-updates are 15-minute phone calls between Koenig and her producer Dana Chivvis. These post-hearing calls consist only of Koenig and Chivvis’ uninformative banter.
The updates are underwhelming, lacking in both depth and factual knowledge. Chivvis has to force things out of Koenig, as the journalist appears to be a bit distracted.
Not only are the updates disappointing, but Koenig does not even stay for the full five days of trial. Granted, her producer notes that she must return to work in order to prepare the next episode of season two.
However, one might think she would be more invested in this trial, since she is the entire reason that Syed is even having another hearing.
I am pretty upset, and so are other listeners.
Koenig, your priorities are all wrong. You owe me this! You owe the millions of listeners who dedicated every Wednesday night of winter 2014 to you.
Although the follow-up podcasts are lacking in depth, journalists such as Koenig have started a new narrative in popular culture and society—one where journalists act as a watchdog and a form of checks and balances.
“The media is able to fulfill its important watchdog and Fourth Estate function by shedding light on all arms of the government and on society at large,” said Bala Musa, Ph.D, professor of communication studies. “The interest of fair trial is best served by reporting court cases in a truthful and responsible way.”
Giving Syed his five days in court is a remarkable result of Koenig’s triumph as an investigative journalist. Koenig indeed reported the facts in an engaging manner.
Yet, it remains a mystery why her artful gift of storytelling was nowhere to be found in her follow-up podcasts.