How true crime news is succeeding and failing in the post-Serial decade

Ten years after the first season of the Serial podcast was released, Nieman Lab is exploring the current state of crime news in America. Neel Dhanesha writes that public radio sees true crime as an opportunity, especially as the heyday of true crime podcasting seems to have ended. 

Sarah Scire reflects on 2020 calls to “defund” the crime beat, which writers Tauhid Chappell and Mike Rispoli called racist and fear-mongering. Scire writes that while the crime beat hasn’t disappeared, particularly at legacy newspapers, there is an increased emphasis on responsible coverage across the industry. Andrew Deck looks at the challenges to criminal justice data that reporters still face, while Hanaa’ Tameez looks at content creators focused more on the victims and their families than the crimes themselves. 

And Sophie Culpepper explores how, despite crime being the second most popular news topic for consumers (after the weather), most Americans feel they aren’t well-informed about the broader issues surrounding crime. And yet accountability-focused news products like the collaborative Streetlight Detroit have struggled to find an audience, indicating that despite what consumers say they want, they are more drawn to sensationalist crime coverage than deeper exploration of systemic issues. 

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> How to cover political violence and threats without making it worse (Poynter)

High-quality polls show that only 3 to 4% of Americans support political violence, but coverage has made many more people fear violence and created a feeling of inevitability around it. Newsrooms should be careful to focus on accuracy over sensationalism and try to complicate the narrative for audiences. 

>> The Washington Post’s non-endorsement led to record-breaking weeks at other news orgs (Nieman Lab)

The Guardian and several other news outlets highlighted their endorsement of Vice President Harris to those who canceled their Post subscription. The Guardian raised more than $2 million,  while The Boston Globe and The Philadelphia Inquirer both saw bumps in subscribers.

>> New from API: Journalism resources for Nov. 5 & beyond

API’s resources include safety and security tools, guidance on reporting at the polls, legal advice and other best practices. 

  • Dig Deeper: Apply to join the The Election Urgent Care Slack channel, led by the Knight Election Hub, Votebeat and Hearken, with the partnership of API and other organizations, which provides rapid resource matching for election-related support 
  • Explore the Knight Election Hub, which offers dozens of free and subsidized resources to newsrooms covering the election 

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Culture & Inclusion

>> What more than 200 journalists think about the future of the industry (Substack, Your First Byline)

In a series of interviews, journalists differ about whether they would advise newcomers to enter the industry. But they generally agree on starting small, specializing and creating your own content. 

>> What we learned asking about ethical standards for news content creators (Trusting News) 

A recent Trusting News survey of both traditional journalists and individual creators found that there is a need for more training to support ethical content creation. 

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> Using zines to share public service, civic information (RJI Online)

The nonprofit Riverside Record in California used zines to share information ahead about local school bond measures ahead of the election. They chose to distribute zines to community organizations rather than mail postcards due to the cost. 

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Revenue & Resilience

>> Jeff Bezos should donate the Washington Post to a charity (Columbia Journalism Review)

Steven Waldman argues that Jeff Bezos’s corporate interests in Amazon and Blue Origin make him too vulnerable to political pressure to fairly lead The Washington Post. He suggests that Bezos donate the paper to a charity, perhaps one of his own construction. 

>> How The New York Times is using generative AI as a reporting tool (Ars Technica) 

A team investigating the ostensibly nonpartisan Election Integrity Network used AI tools to sort through 400 hours of conversation, which turned into five million words of transcripts. They then used LLMs to identify recurring themes and highlight notable guests. 

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What else you need to know

🗞️ Star-Ledger ending print edition and closing production facility in 2025 (NJ.com) 

💰 Consumer Reports gets $5 million from Newmark Philanthropies (Talking Biz News) 

📺 Andrea Mitchell to depart daily MSNBC show; will continue reporting as correspondent for NBCU platforms (Deadline) 

🪧 The New York Times risks losing election needle in tech union’s strike (The Daily Beast) 

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Weekend reads

+ Why isn’t anyone covering this? Semafor’s Max Tani on a common Twitter gripe (Substack, Embedded) 

+ CNN’s Dana Bash, a trusted political referee, is having a moment (The Wall Street Journal) 

+ ‘Lady blogs’ would have had a field day with this election (The New York Times)

+ Navigating election prep in battleground areas: News editors share their strategies (UT Austin Center for Media Engagement)