Bias Everywhere

So we have finally reached the end of our 12 episode journey through the case of Adnan Syed and have in turn finally gotten an explicit opinion from Koenig. Now where do we go from there? First, on the immediate and surface level, what effect does Koenig's opinion have on you? My very first instinct at this point when I hear her make an assertion is to take the opposite side, obviously not an ideal unbiased reaction but one I have nonetheless. However, usually I get past that to the point where I develop my own opinion independent of what she's said. I feel as if most people must be influenced in either this way or the opposite; I would think after listening to Koenig's voice for something like 10 or more hours a person's got to either be inclined to agree or disagree with what she says without completely thinking about it on their own. This might be due to multiple reasons from hating Koenig's voice to agreeing with evidence that she might have skewed, regardless I think there is some bias present in everyone at this point. Now with that in mind, how good of an opinion on Adnan's case are we all really developing? Almost all of our information on the case has come from and will continue to come from Koenig--a woman who very clearly seemed to have some bias throughout the podcast and who is a self-proclaimed amateur when it comes to legal processes, the Innocence Project--an organization whose very name indicates their bias toward proving people innocent, and Rabia Chaudry--a childhood friend and representative of Adnan. Are these sources really all that strong when it comes to developing an unbiased picture of the case? In this last podcast, Koenig even voices her doubts to Enright and is brushed off with a "Big picture Sarah, big picture." Clearly there is a lot of bias going around related to Serial and such, but as we've discussed in class, it seems this very bias is what makes the podcast so popular. According to this article, media is "programmed to lean towards innocent no matter what," something that might very well be true. Additionally, (and I don't know where or even if I read this online) it seems as if listeners would far rather listen to the story of a corrupt legal system than of some man who is rightfully placed in jail. In light of this, I think that the blame for Koenig's bias lies in part on the audience and public. I know this might not be too popular an opinion in light of all the Koenig-hating we've been doing, but perhaps some of the blame should be shifted from her and to the public desire for bias that fuels her podcasts. In my opinion, all this bias seems to be so prevalent that it just isn't feasible to develop an opinion on the case. Even if the bias doesn't influence you to side with Koenig, aversion to all of the bias could very well push you to unjustifiably oppose her. With the new appeal, perhaps we should all just agree with Ash and try not to take sides and instead think about the other implications of the podcast.