Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The Trojan Horse Affair, the latest podcast from Serial Productions, debuted last month with formidable ambition.
Produced over years of investigative reporting, the podcast broke news.
As a media product,The Trojan Horse Affairswiftly became a hit.
But as impact journalism, the podcast appears to have run into a wall.
In the first few weeks since release, it drew little coverage in the British media.
(This Twitter thread, compiled by Adrian Hon, illustrates the fact.)
In recent weeks, there has been a shift in the tenor of the response to the podcast.
It feels like one-sided itself.
That response, which Vulture has reviewed, was largely ignored.
Since then, similar opinion pieces have appeared in other publications.
It has been almost a month sinceTrojanHorsecame out.
How do you feel about the response to the podcast so far?
Thats been happening with listeners around the world.
Whats been strange has been the response in the British media and the British Establishment.
I would charitably describe it as bewildering.
It started out as muted, weirdly quiet.
Then it morphed into … Whats the word?
Hamza Syed:I have the same sentiments.
For the first two weeks, it looked like everybody hunkered down and hoped it would go away.
Tell me more about what you mean by that.
Its a forgery thats beendebunked.
Of course, were not above criticism.Pleasescrutinize our work.
There are other things worth noting.
So that might have accounted for the muted reaction, at least for a while.
Whats in the letter?
So we know it had a chilling effect, because a reporter told us there was a chilling effect.
[Note: The existence of the letter was noted inMahmoods columninThe Spectator.]
Have you called the DfE to figure out what this letter actually is?
For me, thats reflective of the culture in British reporting were up against here.
Theres such a deference to power and authority.
Its so weird and meta that my head is spinning around in it.
What does that say about the state of journalism in the general?
I dont know what to do with that.
Should we all just do opinion pieces because who cares?
Thatopinion piece from Sonia Sodhais basically a demonstration of that.
Its exactly the same phenomenon.
Reed:That is not a piece thats interested in informing readers of the truth.
Almost the entirety of what we sent her was ignored.
Syed:I have to say: I knew this was going to happen.
And here we are.
I see that as our failure.
Because if youre dealing with Britain and its relationship to Muslims, thats whats going to happen.
Do you think thats right?
Theres been plenty of important investigative reporting happening in podcasting.
Weve had plenty of examples by this point, fromSerialtoIn the Dark.
But I still dont think its totally understood that way, and Britain is possibly behind on that too.
Reed:To an extent.
Theres been some mobilizing in Birmingham.
But with the letter itself, I dont know a single reporter who has contacted the governing body.
Im wondering how you feel about that question in the wake of all this.
Reed:Im going to stay silent over here.
Syed:Ah, mate.
Its just … its just depressing.
Because as astory, its doing great.
Millions of people are listening.
I feel like its resonating with people.
In terms of actually having an impact, nothing.
Thats where I feel most aggrieved.
The news wont matter.
The journalism wont matter.
What I feel like Im seeing is the journalism dying and the story propagating further and further.
And so Brian was right and I was wrong.
What comes next for you?
Reed:Hamzas just pacing around, smoking cigarettes and aging himself.
Syed:Yeah, yeah, Im just accelerating toward death as fast as I can.
Listen, I have no plans.
I havent had conversations with anybody.
There have been people reaching out with projects, as you’re able to imagine …
So youre sticking around the news business?
Syed: [Exhausted sound] I dont know.
I dont have a good taste in my mouth because of what happened.
Like I said: For the rest of the world, this is a story.
But nothing with respect to the kind of accountability you were looking for has happened.
Hamza, what do you think about the conversations that have been happening?
So itisdoing something in that regard, but thats more intangible, which I know is not your jam.
Syed:Im not going to disregard that.
It would be ridiculous for me to do that.
That kind of stuff is too much for me to even comprehend.
But my motivation for getting into journalism was accountability.
My motivations are at the level of the politicians.
To make them face stuff.
Ultimately, you might have more people aware about the issue, but theyre still disenfranchised.
