Journalism lecturer's podcast in running for Podcast of the Year

Caroline Cheetham, Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Salford, is the Creative Director and host of The Daily Mail’s The Trial podcast series, which brings criminal cases from the courtroom to life through a mix of court reporting and true crime storytelling.

The chart-topping creation is in the running for the award at this year’s Society of Editors’ Media Freedom Awards on Tuesday 12 November in London.

The podcast previously picked up the News Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Press Awards and presenting duo Caroline and Liz Hull, The Daily Mail’s Northern Correspondent, were named the joint-Multimedia Journalist of the Year by the London Press Club in 2023.

Originally launched as a podcast titled ‘The Trial of Lucy Letby’ back in October 2022 to cover the then-trial of former neo-natal nurse Lucy Letby who was convicted of the murders of seven babies and attempted murders of another seven. 

It has since now released 300 episodes, expanding to cover nine other high-profile trials and recently expanded into the USA with the trial of musician Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and in Australia for the trial of mother-of-two Erin Patterson who has been charged with three counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Caroline has also been nominated alongside Irish Mail on Sunday journalist Nicola Byrne for Podcast of the Year at the 2024 Irish Journalism Awards for their The Trial series on the murder of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy. 

Caroline said: “We’re delighted to be shortlisted for the awards. By just looking at the shortlists, it’s clear we are in truly amazing company.

“The success has been a happy accident as at the end of the day, we are straightforward court reporters and we just want to do our jobs well by telling people the news and letting them form their own opinions based on the facts.

“Court reporting can traditionally be quite dry so the key thing for us has been to provide a really engaging way to bring the courtroom to life. The public are still not going into courtrooms and observing these cases so we feel a real passion to show what happens and how the judicial system works.

“As we can’t take cameras into the room, the podcast seeks to recreate the process for the listener and provide a birds-eye view of the courtroom. It’s a privilege to do this as court reporting is at the centre of everything that a journalist is trained to do.

“But it’s also really important for us that in every trial we cover that our focus isn’t on awards and lauding them as there are victims at the centre of every court case. There are those who are grieving or emotionally affected throughout the judicial process and we have to be really cognisant of that in every episode.”

The Daily Mail says that the series has surpassed 30 million global downloads in total, with The Trial of Lucy Letby previously topping true crime charts on a variety of platforms.

Alongside the launch of the new international series, the podcast is continuing to cover the case of Letby which is now being examined by The Thirwall Inquiry and recently began covering the trial of former British soldier Daniel Khalife who is accused of escaping from Wandsworth prison and is charged with collective sensitive military information for Iran.

The series has also opened up countless opportunities for a number of Salford students across a range of programmes to get involved in paid opportunities in the recordings, whether its producing, voice acting or helping edit episodes.

Caroline added: “It’s been really gratifying to see our students get involved in the podcast and then take a real interest in court reporting. They have all been brilliant and it’s great to get more and more people interested in heading to court and learning how to report on proceedings.”