The creators of S-Town, the controversial sibling podcast to Serial, are being sued by the estate of the late subject of the series, John B. McLemore.
To refresh your memory: John B. was a horologist who lived in Alabama and was considered eccentric by many of his fellow townspeople. The podcast, which was ostensibly about a murder that took place and was subsequently covered up, focused on his life and the lives of his friends and loved ones.
McLemore’s estate is seeking damages from the podcast, which won a Peabody Award last year following significant critical acclaim, as well as backlash.
The series was criticised for several things, namely how it turned John B. into the subject and continued to investigate his life after his death, which included sharing intimate details about his personal life with millions of listeners.
Craig Cargile filed the lawsuit last Thursday in Bibb County, Alabama, and alleges that the podcast “used McLemore’s indicia of identity in a commercial manner.”
In a statement, Cargile said: “I am simply doing my duty as administrator of the estate of Mr. McLemore. I have a duty to protect and preserve the assets of the estate for the benefit of the estate’s creditors and other beneficiaries, including Mr. McLemore’s mother, who is still living.”
See the sundial John made for his professor Tom Moore. (via @theobserver) https://t.co/nx8CULeLQu pic.twitter.com/r8t0QdRn20
— S-Town Podcast (@stownpodcast) June 24, 2017
The lawsuit argues that the ‘mysteries’ the podcast claimed to investigate were not matters of public concern, which seems like an understandable criticism to me. The podcast sparked a number of conversations around journalistic ethics and specifically, what constitutes a newsworthy story that the public are entitled to hear and what doesn’t.
I would argue that the details of one eccentric, but relatively private, man’s life don’t need to be public knowledge – particularly the intimate details of his private life – but I also see the value in telling stories that aren’t often given much coverage.
S-Town executive producer Julie Snyder commented to AP that the lawsuit “lacks merit”, and that “S-Town is produced consistent with the highest journalistic standards and we intend to defend against this lawsuit aggressively”.
We’ll see what, if anything, comes of this. Let’s just hope nobody tries to make a podcast about the lawsuit about the podcast.