Poll: Serial and it's subsequent backlash

[BloatedGuppy]

Okay so, first things first...anyone here listened to Serial? If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a podcast that was released episodically starting last October, purporting to launch an "unbiased" investigation into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, for which her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Does that sound dry? It wasn't. It was absurdly addictive, and rapidly became one of the most popular podcasts of all time. The creator, Sarah Koenig, was listed as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, and the podcast itself was described as a "cultural phenomenon" and "The Wire of podcasts".

In the wake of its almost overwhelming popularity/acclaim though has come a subsequent wave of angry backlash. I'll clip a few of the issues here in spoiler format:

Spoiler: Journalistic Ethics

A piece in Spook magazine on Nov. 5 was one of the first pieces to lay out the problems with "Serial." In it, writer Stephanie Van Schilt examines our obsession with "dead girl dramas," and the problem with presenting a real-life tragedy as a sensationalized, TV-style drama. As Schilt writes, "This entertainment factor leaves a bitter taste because Lee isn't Laura Palmer, she can't be resurrected in a fictional land of flashbacks and surreal dream sequences. Lee is real and she's dead."

Spoiler: Creepy Voyeurism

A piece on Digital Spy this Sunday, titled "Are we enjoying this amazing podcast a bit too much," levied accusations of voyeurism, highlighting the harm in treating real people like objects in our very own murder mystery game.

Schilt also questions the ethicality of Koenig's storytelling, particularly the tendency to deliberately withhold information to serve the narrative. As she writes: "All the while, the moral realities of this kind of reportage remain unacknowledged (how do Lee's family feel about this? Are they listening?)." While it appears that Koenig has been unable to track down Lee's family, the victim has been conspicuously absent from the story so far, relegated to a footnote as the suspects in her killing take center stage. Is Koenig, Schilt asks damningly, "unwittingly murdering the victim by silencing her in her own story?"

Spoiler: Creepy Fans

Writer Adrienne LaFrance points to the sprawling online ecosystem that "Serial's" listeners have built around the show - the proliferation of conspiracy theories, amateur sleuthing (largely on Reddit) and weekly recaps from sites like Slate - pointing out that there's something disorienting "about the way the conversation about the show feels akin to the kind of discussion you might find on a subreddit about Lost." LaFrance continues: "What is it, exactly, that people are participating in here? Are Serial listeners in it for the important examination of the criminal justice system? Or are we trawling through a grieving family's pain as a form of entertainment?"

Spoiler: Treatment of Race

The backlash train really began to pick up steam this week, with the release of two major pieces that focused less on Koenig's narrative ethics - although that is certainly a part of it - than on the show's treatment of race. These criticisms feel inevitable given the circumstances of the production: Koenig is a white reporter and almost all of the subjects of the story are minorities. On Nov. 13, Jay Caspian Kang wrote a story for the Awl titled "'Serial' and White Reporter Privilege," arguing that Koenig exemplifies white privilege in journalism and criticizes Koenig's tendency to go "stomping through communities that she does not understand."

Regardless of whether or not True Crime Serial Podcasts land in the wheelhouse of this forum's demographic (cultural phenomenons or not), this podcast and the furor surrounding it...both positive and negative...seems to land squarely in the middle of oft discussed topics. Namely Journalistic Ethics, and "Sensitive" Media Criticism. So I'm curious to know where some of the resident talking heads land on this. It will be a bit problematic to get informed opinions if no one has listened to it, but honestly if you haven't you really should. It's free, it's huge popular and absurdly compelling, and it's controversial. What's not to like? Except for all that criticism stuff BUT IGNORE THAT and just listen to it so we can discuss it. Off you go now. Chop chop.

http://serialpodcast.org/

 

[DoPo]

"I've never listened to it, and I never shall!"

Dunno much what else to say. I guess, I can elaborate - it doesn't sound like something that interesting for me, really.

And about the controversy...I think it was inevitable. Especially if it's something popular. It just seems like a given - lots of people apparently enjoy something, so there must come a bunch of others to tell them to stop. Can't really explain why it's happening but it's happening only all the time.

I think it's

Spoiler: time to vanish

 

[Hoplon]

I really enjoyed serial, partly because it wasn't trying to be lurid but undo the Gordian knot of this case.

The criticisms seem well, way more focused on those things than the show ever was. Plus having ago at the show for it's fan base? did they personally pick them all personally? i would guess not, making that fuck all to do with the show.

 

[tilmoph]

I don't do podcasts, so I'll never listen to this.

And about the controversy...I think it was inevitable.

About sums up my thoughts on the criticism. Same old, same old, and completely inevitable. Silencing (cuz dead people are chatty, just ask any medium...for a nominal fee), privilege, exploit minorities, blah blah heard this before. I only give the criticism a B though; it failed to use the words cultural appropriation and completely forgot to refer to everyone listening as basement dwelling creepers. Those are important if your doing internet criticism. The critics also failed to get the extra credit points for suggesting it's a murder manual. Such a shame, would've bumped them up to a B+ or even A- if they were really inventive.

 

[Fat Hippo]

I have to admit I've alway found the "True Crime" genre a bit lurid. But then, I haven't actually listened to Serial, so it's not fair to criticize it in particular. Maybe it's more tasteful than I'm imagining it. And judging all of the listeners hardly seems fair.

And the people playing the race card, because of course someone was going to, can fuck right off.

 

[Strazdas]

I never listened to this because i only recently started listening to podcasts at all, mostly as a background noise while playing Civilization or something that does not require audio. I was interested in True Crime genre however, even if a bit dissapointed how undramatic it sometimes is. So this sounds interesting, i might give it a try, thanks for making me aware.

As far as the criticism quoted here, i find it laughable. It sounds like somone having a personal beef with the podcast trying to paint it in bad light because "you should not like things i dont like".

 

[BloatedGuppy]

As far as the criticism quoted here, i find it laughable. It sounds like somone having a personal beef with the podcast trying to paint it in bad light because "you should not like things i dont like".

I find some of the criticisms laughable, most particularly the racial privilege ones.

Despite REALLY enjoying the hell out of the podcast, I find the questions about the ethics of doing something like this to be painfully on point though. I actually think it's quite an interesting discussion, the question of what the ethics are of digging around in a controversial murder case for what is ostensibly an entertainment program.

 

[Areloch]

It may seem to be especially foul to turn the death of a real person into an entertainment drama, but lets be real here: is it any different than dramatizations for entertainment of any other real-life death/tragedy?

People doing their own investigation and research on the titanic because it fascinates them. People looking at all the research done about the JFK assassination, all the movies about those subjects purely to be consumed as entertainment, and so on. This is hardly new.

I do have to raise my eyebrow at the accusations of racism though. The manner in which the investigation may indeed be questionable, but to imply that one isn't allowed to investigate certain communities or events because they're the incorrect race is an awful notion to purport.

 

[Strazdas]

Despite REALLY enjoying the hell out of the podcast, I find the questions about the ethics of doing something like this to be painfully on point though. I actually think it's quite an interesting discussion, the question of what the ethics are of digging around in a controversial murder case for what is ostensibly an entertainment program.

I dont. We have entire culture created around depiction of criminal action and law enforcement response and its not really harmful to society. Im not aware of a single case where someone listened to a podcast and decided "yeah im going to murder some people now". Crime is entertainment. just look at the news media. Not to mention the entire idea of glorifying last centuries americas bank robbers and the like. Its just a thing humans tend to do.

The whole "watching TV for tragedy" is nicely pointed out in this Tool song.