American Public
Media (APM) announced last week [link] that it’s highly praised podcast series In the Dark
is available exclusively to affiliates nationwide. APM edited material from the
nine-part podcast series into five, hour-long radio programs. In the Dark is available at no charge to
APM stations.
 |
| Jacob Wetterling |
In the Dark examines how law enforcement handled the
kidnapping of 11-year Jacob Wetterling. The case went unsolved for nearly 27
years.
In the Dark not only shines
new light on the case, it led to the creation of the federal sex offender
registry and caused changes in how law enforcement handles similar situations.
 |
| Madeleine Baran |
The podcast and
radio series were produced by a team led by reporter Madeleine Baran, who won a
Peabody Award for her reporting on clergy sexual abuse in Minnesota.
According to APM,
there have been more than 3.5 million downloads of In the Dark since
September. In the Dark has been praised around the world.
Columbia Journalism Review said it “exhibits
the very best of audio storytelling: detailed reporting, slick production, and
a suspenseful narrative.”
Vox.com [link]
said: “In the Dark goes beyond the
typical manhunt. It figures out why authorities so badly bungled the
investigation in the first place.”
According to the
reviewer for Esquire: “In the Dark is easily the best true crime
podcast since Serial—even better, if you ask me.”
The Guardian’s reviewer cautioned [link]:
“Be warned: I found parts of
In the Dark almost impossible to listen to. Not because of its violence, but
because of the innocence of the children and adults affected in the case.
Jacob was walking home from a
video store with two friends when he was taken and we hear, back then, his
brother talking about what happened when Heinrich [the abducter] stopped them.
We hear his parents, interviewed recently by Baran, trying to recall exactly
what happened, bickering over details. Gradually, as the podcast continues, we
begin to understand the vast fallout of Jacob’s disappearance, the lives it
turned inside out and wrecked, how it altered the local community, changed US
laws.”
The radio version
of In the Dark also includes a follow
up discussion with Baran and APM Reports’ producer Samara Freemark, hosted by Marketplace Weekend’s Lizzie O’Leary.
Make certain your local
NPR News station airs In the Dark.
WHY THE RADIO VERSION OF IN THE DARK MATTERS
Public radio does
NOT have enough compelling new programs in the pipeline. Resources are too
often going solely for not-for-broadcast vehicles. Though there are important
differences between the production of podcasts and radio programs, the topics
and source material are easily adapted for radio.
The close relationship
between radio and podcasts is well known. Many of the biggest fans of podcasts
are also core listeners to public radio. Keep in mind that Serial began as an episode of This
American Life. The play on TAL
exposed Serial to a couple of million
listeners, a major factor in that series success.
CORRECTION: ATK’s FORMER HOST IS “CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL”
An alert SPARK!
reader notified me that I mistakenly used the name “Gordon Kimball” in Friday’s
post [link] about America’s Test Kitchen (ATK). The name of the former ATK host
is actually “Christopher Kimball.”
I apologize for the
error, particularly to other bloggers and reporters who re-posted my article.
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