Last week, Adnan Syed was released from prison. Sound familiar, but you can’t quite place him? Syed was the center of the inaugural season of the hit podcast Serial. Remember binging that one? Same.
Quick refresher. Syed was charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend in 1999. The crime was ugly- the victim was found strangled in the woods. The case was thrust into the spotlight in 2014, when it became the main focus of Serial. Over the course of 12 episodes, the show probed the details of the murder case, exposing a disturbing amount of questions unanswered and unsettling complications surrounding the final verdict.
And aside from shining a spotlight on Syed’s questionable conviction, the podcast broke new ground in episodic, audio storytelling. With over 300 million downloads, the first season inspired an entire genre of true crime podcasts. Serial was the first of its kind. It won just about every major journalism award, including a DuPont and a Peabody. And Sarah Koenig, the show’s host, was named one of Time’s Most Influential People of 2015.
Fast forward to today, and after serving nearly 23 years behind bars, a US judge overturned Adnan Syed’s conviction. While the decision does not mean he is innocent, it does allow for Syed to receive a new trial.
Does Syed owe his newfound freedom to the podcast? No doubt. Of course, a team of attorneys and and a certain State Attorney in Baltimore had something to do with it, but would the case ever have gotten a second look if it weren’t for Serial? My hunch? Definitely not. In recent years, other investigative podcasts like Serial have worked to get high-profile cases overturned. In the Dark helped get a murder conviction reversed for Mississippi man Curtis Flowers.
Interestingly enough, it’s not the power of the truth that wins here. Of course, the truth should always be your focal point. But how you tell the truth matters. When it comes to effective marketing, it’s all about the power of a good story. Or better yet, the power of a well told story. Through the lens of a sitting judge, or even an attorney, Adnan Syed’s case sounds like the hundred others we’ve seen on the news ticker at night. But through the means of investigative journalism, with the voice of a fantastic story teller, and broadcasted on a popular audio platform, the right story has the opportunity to thrive. And once an audience is captivated, enter the power of social media. Serial took off, and the rallying cries on social media followed closely behind. The case garnered an enormous amount of attention. Attention it wouldn’t have received otherwise.
Lesson of the day? Stories matter. And how well a story is told could be the difference in life or death. No pressure.
