Serial has transformed true crime — and the way we think about criminal justice

In 1966, by Truman Capote in cold blood All but created a pattern of true crime. Nearly 50 years later, radio journalist Sarah Koenig decides the case of Adnan Syed, a Baltimore high school student convicted of murdering his teenage ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, deserves a second look.

With its high production values, conversational style, and a storyline unfolding in real time across 2014 episodes Serial fueled a new wave of interest in true crime and transformed podcasting. Its first season—with A piano-plinking earworm of an opening theme And Endless parody — once upon a time Most Downloaded There are 300 million podcasts in the world, a number that now feels almost strange thanks to the influence Serial The entire medium was.

but SerialIts most consequential impact was on the criminal justice system.

Before the landmark series, the only way we got our pop culture narrative about crime came through police procedurals Law and order and high-profile investigations such as OJ Simpson or JonBenet Ramsey, where the accompanying media circus often overshadows the truth; In individual cases serious deconstruction was relegated to niche internet forums or occasionally Prestige documentary. Even in more routine situations, police departments typically controlled the stories surrounding criminal investigations, choosing what the public knew and when they knew it. This grip on information often meant the media had no choice but to parrot the police narrative of a case—a structure mirrored by the onscreen “copaganda” of procedurals and other scripted shows.

Serial This has changed by ushering in an era of increased scrutiny over the narratives we are fed about policing and by making millions of audiences more fundamentally aware of the limits and flaws of the justice system. From that awareness came serious steps that arguably helped for free SerialIts own thing.

Much has been made of the way the true-crime podcasting boom has normalized the genre’s more negative stereotypes: obsessed fans harass suspects and think they know better than the authorities, or White women make fun of murder As millions of fans laugh without regard for victims or survivors. to be sure, thorn complex Maybe, but little attention has been paid positive results Such is collectivism when it is applied to an unjust system.

Starting with the True Crime Podcast, Serial And subsequent high-profile podcasts, “provided a critical lens to examine procedures and decision-making in the criminal justice system,” Kent Bausman, a criminologist and sociology professor at Maryville University, told Vox in an email. “They have illuminated public awareness of the complex machinations of the system and revealed with great clarity the human experience of miscarriages of justice.” Bausman noted that true crime podcasts often “offer insight into everything from the production and use of false confessions and inherent problem exists about that Use of forensic evidence in the courtroom.”

Bausman mentions organizations like The Innocence Project Having existed for decades, it is only recently that they have become more widely known as a result of the true crime explosion. We have acquired a broader cultural awareness reasons That leads to the wrongful convictions that the Innocence Project and its colleagues help overturn — things like false confessions, police misconduct, bad forensics and perjury at trial. In addition, terms such as “missing white woman syndrome” and “missing and murdered indigenous women” have emerged to encompass a whole range of police inadequacies in terms of the racial and socioeconomic gap between “perfect” victims and the forgotten.

True crime fans now Loud advocate For thorough investigation. They are more knowledgeable about shady criminal justice tactics, from entrapment “Mr. Big” operation per Brady violation And Reed technique. There is an increased familiarity with nonprofits that help law enforcement solve cases, from Texas EquuSearch from The DNA Doe ProjectAs well as those seeking criminal justice reform, eg Finish the backlog.

Several of these organizations build on perhaps the greatest recent advance in criminal investigation: forensic genealogy. Using family DNA to catch criminals has revolutionized crime-solving amid a boom in true crime. In 2018, when forensics led to the capture of the Golden State Killer, the true-crime world greeted the announcement like sports fans might celebrate a World Series win — a comparison that captures the complex nature of a genre that makes entertainment out of tragedy. . Widespread concern about heredity Confidentiality And private companies quickly followed suit, sharing user data.

That sense of togetherness and the existence of a “true crime community” is largely due to this Serial. after Serial, millions of people have become amateur detectives. There are legions of fans have made themselves an invaluable part Crime-solving processes through social media as well as long-standing true crime forums like Websleuths. Until they become almost experts themselves, generating tips for law enforcement, developing new interests in cold cases, and often leading the authorities by the nose to reach conclusions they should have long ago; In one famous case, this latter scenario was followed by an amateur audience to millions of listeners Created his own podcast Christine Smart draws attention to the case and forces the attention of her local cops.

Journalist-led true crime podcasts have also had a direct impact on the cases investigated in the intervening years—eg in the darkWhich helped free her season two subject Curtis Flowers from the death penalty in 2019. In 2022, Runaway hits The Moordoff Murders Helped catalyze a reinvestigation into the death of Stephen Smith, widely believed to be linked to Alex Murdoff’s byzantine crime spree.

Not all criminal investigations benefit from diving into the fray of millions of newly minted amateur sleuths. Bausman warns that it can actually “use both perpetrators and victims for public entertainment.” He also noted that despite the renewed attention true crime podcasts may bring to stalled investigations, Clearance rate This effect did not increase the incidence of cold homicides.

still, Serial The criminal justice system continues to have an outsized influence on our cultural understanding, and this sea change ultimately came full circle back to Adnan Syed.

In 2022, Syed’s hometown of Baltimore reconsidered dozens of sentences. A larger overall effort Maryland has extradited juveniles and young offenders, many of whom have spent their entire adult lives in prison without the possibility of parole, to atone for decades of harsh sentences. This is an example of how prosecutorial divisions across the country are reviewing wrongful and unjust convictions. Assertive integrity unit And Sentencing Review Unit. Part of these programs Criminal Justice Reform Normalization That came in a big way attitude change About the trial of that decade Serial promoted

It was a dogged pursuit of local criminal justice reform that eventually allowed Syed to go free, though the brilliant “whodunit” aspects of his case that initially attracted Koenig also took a twist. Syed’s case review uncovered new evidence, including two new suspects, that cast reasonable doubt on his trial and conviction. Prosecutors dropped all charges against Syed just days later; They later walked it back on a technicality. These nuances also reflect a post-Serial Public Advocacy and Shifting Focus: On Hunting rights and their families in such cases.

Although his case is still pending, Syed remains out of prison, pending resolution of Hae Min Lee’s family’s concerns. It’s the kind of messy, satisfyingly unsatisfying conclusion that suits both Serial itself and the evolving criminal justice era we’re in — one where answers rarely come easily, but perhaps for the first time, we’re all looking for.

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