It's Your Week. 'Accused' co-host answers true-crime questions
"I'm telling you, this case had a stench about it."
That's what defense attorney Bill Gallagher says about the divisive 1995 murder trial against Elwood Jones.
"It had a feeling about it that there was evidence that was not the way it was portrayed in court, that it was something other than that," Gallagher said.
Journalists with The Cincinnati Enquirer and Paste BN Network reexamine the case from start to finish in the latest season of the true-crime podcast "Accused."
And you, as a subscriber, get the first listen.
I'm Sallee Ann, and for this edition of Your Week, we have Amber Hunt, co-host of "Accused" joining us to answer four questions ahead of the podcast's fourth season.
'If we hadn't looked at this case, no other media outlet would've done it'
What was the most challenging part of reporting and recording this season?
Amber Hunt: What challenged us most this season was the same thing that's challenged everyone: the pandemic.
We started reporting this season in mid-2019, then were completely derailed in early 2020 with not just COVID news but also George Floyd protests and other big news events. On top of that, we were among the many newsrooms nationwide which juggled furloughs ... In truth, there were times we weren't sure we'd even finish this season at all.
Luckily, once 2021 came around, we were OK'd again to focus on this case, which is the most pressing one we've tackled to date.
What was the most rewarding?
Hunt: This season isn't clear-cut. We raise solid issues with the investigation and highlight other avenues that could have been pursued, but a reasonable person could have trouble deciding if the "accused" this time is more likely guilty or innocent. And that's why it was so important we adopt this case.
Elwood Jones has maintained his innocence since Day One, and he's begged attorneys and other media ("Forensic Files" included) to investigate his claims. If we hadn't looked at this case, no other media outlet would've done it simply because newsrooms can't afford to spend their limited resources on cases with much room for ambiguity.
Luckily, the Enquirer has always backed our choices with "Accused," so once we decided to take this one on, we had everyone's full support to examine the case thoroughly. And that's incredibly rewarding.
Did the pandemic affect how you were able to record/produce this season?
Hunt: Luckily, we started gathering thread on this season in 2019 while we were still finishing Season 3. Because of that, we had interviewed Elwood Jones in prison – in person – before the world shut down in early 2020. Thank goodness for that because if we hadn't met with him then, we wouldn't have been able to meet with him, period, and he isn't the type of guy who would've opened up much by phone. More of our secondary interviews were by phone, though, than in previous seasons, simply for safety's sake.
The pandemic slowed us down, but it couldn't quite stop us.
How has the true-crime world changed or evolved since "Accused" first launched in 2016?
Hunt: When you think of early true-crime podcasts, you no doubt think of "Serial," which changed the landscape in 2014. By 2016, we wondered if we were desperately late in entering the field. With the benefit of hindsight, we realize that, in reality, we actually were early adopters too.
When we started our work, the number of active podcasts was below 30,000. Today, there are more than 2 million. True crime in this medium has absolutely exploded, so there's much more competition than when we began.
Nowadays, we have to juggle more in terms of logistics, but we still have the same core team and we still strongly believe in treating each case with the same care and ethics that we've insisted on since the beginning.
No matter how tough the competition, we want to make sure our reporting standards are exact and we never lose our empathy for the victims and their loved ones. We tell these stories because they're important, not because they're popular. If that ever means we lose listeners to some more sensationalistic newcomers out there, we're OK with that.
Listen to season four of "Accused" ad-free, exclusive to Paste BN subscribers.
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Next week, Your Week is getting an Olympics takeover with the fabulous Analis Bailey. You don't want to miss it.
Have a great week!