Journalism, Law, and Adnan Syed

I double majored in English and Journalism in college and my favorite class was Mass Communications Law, hands down. I have a deep fascination with the way the law has shaped journalism and the way journalism has shaped law.

True crime has always intrigued me. I don't like scary movies and I often become fearful when reading about true crime stories, but I can't look away. When I started listening to Serial during season one, I couldn't tear my ear buds away from my head. It wasn't just because I was intrigued by the case, it was because this was a totally new way to be a journalist.

Unlike many of my fellow soldiers in the Serial army, I was not new to This American Life or podcasts. I love music, but on monotonous long runs training for a couple of races I stupidly signed up for, I would get bored of my playlists and turn to audio books or This American Life.

There's something about the podcast movement and Serial's epic rise that says so much about how things have changed and stayed the same. It was like we had all been transported back to the early days of radio. Its simplicity as a medium combined with the technology used to deliver it to 5 million people per week was a game changer. I'm thankful to Sarah Koenig for that, although I know it wasn't on purpose. She had no idea this was going to happen.

Fast forward to last week when the post-conviction relief (PCR) hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to grant Syed a new trial begins. Since Serial ended, I have done what I always do when I become intrigued by something: I read EVERYTHING, watch EVERYTHING and listen to EVERYTHING that I can find on the subject. I assumed that a good portion of the Serial army did as well.

They didn't. I wasn't the only one listening to Undisclosed, the podcast started by family friend Rabia Chaudry (the one who begged Sarah Koenig to take on this case) and two other lawyers, Susan Simpson and Colin Miller, who got sucked in by Serial and couldn't stop researching it (just like me, only smarter) and Truth and Justice, another podcast started by fan Bob Ruff, but there certainly weren't 5 million of us listening.

Going from Serial to Undisclosed and Truth and Justice was like going from elementary school to graduate school in one leap. Much of what Sarah uncovered or took for granted was called into question and, often, disproved. It's not that Sarah didn't work to uncover new information, it's that she a) isn't a lawyer and b) didn't get to benefit from the massive attention her podcast had on the rest of the world and, amazingly, potential alibi witnesses. That being said, there really is no excuse for her elementary-level coverage of the PCR hearing.

As someone who donated money to Serial to keep it going because I believed that they were bringing justice to Hae's family (because justice for Hae does not involve convicting the wrong person with no physical evidence) and that Serial would continue to do this important work to fight the radical indifference problem we have in this country: I am disappointed.

I now know more about the case than Sarah does, and her coverage of the PCR hearing was, in a word: embarrassing. Still, it didn't bother me too much until I realized how many people were relying on her to deliver the ending they so desperately wanted. The dream we all hope for, the happy ending. The 5 million plus people who listened and waited for Thursday mornings every week were now waiting for her to provide closure. They felt that if there was more information to share, they would get it from the person who seemed so addicted to finding the truth. Unfortunately, it seems as if she stopped caring about Adnan the minute she posted the final installment. Her clueless calls to Dana from the closet in her hotel room were filled with the indifference that I hoped she would eradicate.

Sarah did a lot for Adnan's case, so I'm not going to continue to harp on her current lack of interest, because I also think we are seeing yet another evolution in the way this PCR hearing is being covered. There are multiple amazing sources "live tweeting" from the hallways of the courthouse, feeding the hungry masses who haven't hid their heads in the sand since Serial ended. There is still an army out there, and they are anything but indifferent.

Lawyers from all over the country providing background on PCR hearings via Twitter and their blogs, journalists suddenly doubling and tripling their followers on Twitter because they are covering the case, podcasters and random lawyers from Minnesota using Periscope to recap the day's testimony and average Joes like me getting likes from Rabia and her brother. This is a movement of the people, for the people. This is a drastic shift in the way journalism can bend and shape itself to continue to be not only relevant, but integral to providing justice. This is a new case to be covered in that Mass Communications Law class, and we are making history.

#AdnanSyed #JusticeforHae #FreeAdnan