Serial: the case of Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee gripped millions
HBO
The rise of the popular press in the 19th century was fuelled in no small part by readers’ thirst for tales of murder, mayhem and restorative justice. “Court cases used to be an absolute staple,” says Matthew Engel, the author of Tickle the Public: One Hundred Years of the Popular Press.
But in recent years court reporting has been in decline — and without the public’s eyes and ears in court, some argue that it’s no coincidence that people’s confidence in the criminal justice system is falling too. Few local papers can now afford to keep a staff specialist; many news agencies are struggling. “I actually think the abolition of hanging took the drama out of it,” Engel says. “Today, in all but the
