Serial is damn good storytelling. But there’s more to be done.
Now that Baltimore is in the news again, my only question is: What’s next?
I can’t remember the last time I listened to the radio. I watched This American Life when Netflix had a few of the Showtime series’ TV episodes. I then listened to the podcast for a few days before I tuned out.
I started Serial back in January. I got halfway through the first episode. Then I stopped. I was cleaning my room. My girlfriend came over and said the show sounded sad. So we shut it off.
But the basic premise of that first episode stayed with me. I can remember cleaning my room, my girlfriend coming over and the short conversation we had before we stopped.
I remember hitting the pause button on my iPhone and thinking, “I’ll just pick this back up tomorrow.”
I don’t have any other recollections of that day. I think it was a weekend. Or maybe during winter break. And I only know that because I’m pretty sure the first thing I did the next morning was play Skyrim for four hours without a break.
That was the first thing Serial did for me, my first takeaway. What is memory worth? I thought about that a lot as I pondered my two favorite features stories: Jon Franklin’s “Mrs. Kelly’s Monster” and Tom Hallman, Jr.’s “Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask.”
If it weren’t for Franklin and Hallman being there for every step of these two journeys, how would those stories have worked out? How would the families’ recollections of these two major medical procedures impact the way the Pulitzer Prize-winning stories came about?
They’re damn good stories. And they’re both immersive looks into the lives of two families navigating incredibly troubling waters, much like Adnan Syed and the family of Hae Min Lee.
But aside from telling a good story — a really good story — what was the point of the first season of Serial? It seemed like Sarah Koenig spent something like six hours of airtime trying to unravel the murder of Hae Min Lee.
Obviously that didn’t quite pan out. Adnan Syed is still in prison.
Ever since the podcast debuted, it’s been lauded just as much as it’s been criticized. Koenig’s project has been examined from multiple angles.
She could have told Hae Min Lee’s story better.
Her white privilege made it impossible for her to properly report.
Those are all fair assessments. But to ask that one person in one story tackle so much is unfeasible. It’s especially evident now that we’re seeing the same area plagued with bursts of violence borne of tensions that have been bubbling for as long as anyone can remember.
At its core, Serial is a great example of the behind-the-scenes processes that unfold when reporters tackle tough investigative stories.
Listening to Koenig explain her thought process as she pursue a larger narrative was incredibly enlightening. I’ve been in some sort of management position at various student newspapers over the last five years. Too many fledgling reporters are quick to show up at someone’s home unannounced as a secondary measure, rather than a last resort.
Koenig sums up that part of her story well.
Heading to Jay’s house without giving him warning was a dick move, as she says. But it was necessary by the time she got there. She’d tried other avenues of getting his comment. She tried to make do without it. But when push came to shove, Koenig did what she had to do in order to get that part of her report. And you know what? She got the interview. She got what she needed. Was it effective? That’s up for debate.
Jay’s testimony didn’t clear anything up. And that episode of the podcast only perpetuated the idea that Koenig was playing Nancy Drew and taking her listeners along for the ride. Sure, it was entertaining, but did it need to be done?
Koenig’s interviews with classmates, her use of public records and the hours she spent poring over courtroom transcripts and audio tapes was a lot more impactful.
After all, public records cast doubt on the idea that there was a phone booth at the Best Buy where Jay alleges that Adnan asked for a ride, a pretty big part of the case.
It’s especially interesting when Koenig presents some of her findings to members of the jury that convicted Syed, particularly when it’s obvious that the jurors took the teenager’s race and religion into account, as well as the fact that he didn’t want to testify in his defense. You know, the things they were sworn to omit from their consideration of the case.
One thing’s clear: There’s reasonable doubt that Syed committed the crime. And isn’t that what you need to prove in order to convict somebody for murder?
My final takeaways from Serial have less to do with how Koenig went out and reported her story, particularly now that the killing of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police has brought the city into the national conversation again.
No, all I can think of is how Serial dipped its toes into waters that still need to be explored further.
