The Nieman Storyboard podcast returns for Season Two with Pamela Colloff, reporter for ProPublica, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, and author of the new book “Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast.”
Note: this episode includes discussion of cases involving sexual assault.
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"Catch the Devil" tells the story of a con artist named Paul Skalnik who spent time in and out of jail for a string of crimes. He soon became a frequent jailhouse informant for prosecutors who were looking for confessions from people who were locked away and awaiting trial.
Skalnik ended up testifying in at least 37 cases in Pinellas County, Florida, alone. His testimony sent dozens of people to prison, four of whom were ultimately sentenced to death. Colloff's book focuses on the trial of a man named Jim Dailey, who had been linked to the murder of a 14-year-old girl.
This is Colloff's first book, after years of reporting award-winning longform narratives starting at Texas Monthly. Colloff talks about the origins of the idea, and breaks down the reporting, editing, and fact-checking process. We also discuss how true crime reporting has evolved toward an approach that is more trauma-informed and sensitive to the impact on victims and victims' families.
Show credits
Hosted and produced by Mark Armstrong
Episode editor: Kelly Araja
Audience editor: Adriana Lacy
Promotional support: Ellen Tuttle
Operational support: Paul Plutnicki, Peter Canova
Nieman Foundation interim curator: Henry Chu
Music: “Golden Grass,” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
Cover design by Adriana Lacy
Nieman Storyboard is presented by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
