Why Serial is important for journalism

[Commentary] The hit podcast Serial, a journalist’s exploration of whether a young man was wrongly convicted of murder, breaks new ground for our field.

There are reams of articles and TV “newsmagazines” that expose the killers of the famous -- and not so famous -- in gruesome detail. What makes Serial so special and so meaningful for journalism is reporter Sarah Koenig’s transparency. She takes her listeners along with her as she ponders the innocence or guilt of Adnan Syed. As she says, she has no skin in the game. She is simply looking into a story about a promising high school student of Pakistani origin accused of killing his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, an exuberant, talented teenager of Korean descent. For journalists listening to the series, Koenig does what we all do, all the time.

[Barnathan is president of the International Center for Journalists]