Exile Content Studio and PRX Launch “Shoot the Messenger,” A New Investigative Podcast Series
“Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Software” examines the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, exposing the role of NSO Group’s Pegasus software and revealing the growing threat of surveillance to people, journalists, and activists across the globe
Exile Content Studio and PRX, a nonprofit public media company specializing in audio journalism and storytelling, are launching a new podcast series, “Shoot the Messenger,” with the first two episodes of “Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Software” available now across all major podcast platforms.
Hosted by Exile’s Rose Reid and Nando Vila, each multi-part season of “Shoot the Messenger” will be a serialized investigation of a high-profile, often unsolved or unresolved crime with global implications, featuring a thought-provoking and carefully narrated story that leads listeners to a surprising and often unexpected or previously undiscussed conclusion. New episodes of the Exile-produced podcast will be distributed by PRX and released every two weeks everywhere podcasts are heard.
In announcing the new investigative podcast series, Exile CEO Isaac Lee said, “We’re thrilled to partner with PRX on this podcast series, which represents our biggest and most important journalistic effort to date. Through ‘Shoot the Messenger,’ Exile will build a strong pipeline to reveal and showcase critical stories from across the globe, as told by our experienced journalistic team, in partnership with reporters who often put themselves in harm’s way in order to reveal the realities of the world.”
Jason Saldanha, Chief of Business Development and Content at PRX said, “We’re pleased to serve as partners to Exile Content Studio to continue bringing great audio journalism to audiences. ‘Shoot the Messenger’ will be essential for podcast listeners seeking ambitious stories, consequential narratives, and gripping audio.”
“Shoot the Messenger” is financed and produced by Exile, which has committed to two seasons of the new audio format, with partners brought in to collaborate on reporting based on the focus and content of each season. The first season of the podcast series, themed as “Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Software,” is the result of a special partnership with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), inspired by the research conducted by CPJ into the biggest threats facing journalists in the world today.
Running through May, “Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Software” examines the assassination of United States-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, exposing the role of NSO Group’s Pegasus software in tracking his inner circle prior to his murder, and reveals the growing threat of surveillance to people, journalists, and activists across the globe.
“Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Software” features interviews with Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr, and “The Washington Post” Reporter Dana Priest, a former colleague of Khashoggi, who helped Elatr discover that Pegasus software had been used on her phone over the course of several years, including the last five months of Khashoggi’s life. In addition, the the series features an interview Meta’s Whatsapp engineers who first discovered the Pegasus breach and “Financial Times” reporters Mehul Srivastava and Kaye Wiggins who cover NSO Group for the publication, as well as Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa.
“Shoot the Messenger” is the latest example of Exile’s commitment to taking a bold approach to using investigative journalism to look at lawsuits, assassinations, and other cases that often have left danger, dread, and even death in its wake,” said Exile Head of U.S. Audio and “Shoot the Messenger” Host and Executive Producer Rose Reid. “I can say that my experience reporting for this podcast has really changed the way I look at my personal and professional life as both a private citizen and a podcaster, and I’m sure it will have a similar impact on our listeners who won’t be able to help but get caught up in the riveting sagas we share each season.”
Committee to Protect Journalists Advocacy and Communications Director, Gypsy Guillén Kaiser added, “Anchored in CPJ’s extensive research, Exile’s first season of ‘Shoot the Messenger’ will breathe life into the anatomy of a journalist’s brutal murder and the insidious surveillance that threatens journalists around the world. As Exile’s Reid and Vila so vividly expose in each episode, spyware has been weaponized to intimidate other journalists too, putting them at risk of violence, and with some even wrongly jailed. The prospect of being targeted by this sophisticated surveillance technology suffices to hinder probing reporting of sensitive topics, and its unlawful deployment must be stopped, for it threatens our collective right to be informed.”
About Exile Content Studio
Exile Content Studio creates content in Spanish and English for a global audience across multiple platforms — TV, Film, Audio and Digital. Exile’s team has led content production for the largest Spanish-language media companies in the world with responsibility for film studios, OTT service, broadcast and cable networks, music, news and digital. The company’s current slate includes award-winning talent across genres and formats. To stay up to date on Exile’s projects, follow @ExileContent on Twitter and Instagram.
Exile Content Studio is a part of Candle Media, an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises built for the digital age. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. Candle was founded by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
About PRX
PRX is a non-profit public media company specializing in audio journalism and storytelling. PRX serves independent producers and organizations by helping them connect to their most engaged, supportive audiences. One of the world’s leading podcast publishers, PRX works in partnership with TED, PBS, the Smithsonian, Futuro Media, GBH, Religion of Sports, and more. PRX is also home to Radiotopia, known as one of the most creative and successful podcast networks. In addition, PRX distributes trusted public radio programming to hundreds of stations nationwide, including “The World,” “The Moth Radio Hour,” “This American Life,” “Snap Judgment,” “Reveal,” “The Takeaway,” and “Latino USA.” PRX programs have been recognized by the Peabody Awards, the duPont-Columbia Awards, the IDA Documentary Awards, and the Pulitzer Prizes. In 2022, Futuro Media and PRX won a Pulitzer Prize.
