Het Brits bedrijf Tortoise Media maakte het voorbije jaar zelf headlines door amper zes jaar na zijn oprichting de 233 jaar oude krant The Observer over te nemen. Een droomhuwelijk weliswaar, want The Observer geldt al eeuwen als een kwaliteitskrant en Tortoise Media wierp zich in zijn korte bestaan op als voorvechter van online onderzoeksjournalistiek én straffe podcasts.
Onder de paraplu Tortoise Investigates maakte het ‘award-winning’ podcasts over de grootste complottheorie uit de Britse geschiedenis (Hoaxed), de seksuele relatie tussen een veertienjarige jongen en zijn leerkracht (Lucky Boy), de online haatcampagne tegen Amber Heard (Who Trolled Amber?) en zowat het meest waanzinnige catfishingverhaal ooit (Sweet Bobby). De onderwerpen lopen flink uiteen, maar de lat ligt altijd even hoog.
Hoe gaan ze precies te werk, en naar welke verhalen zijn ze zoal op zoek? Op DS Podcastfestival lichten ze een tipje van de sluier.
This session will be in English.
Hoaxed, the new series from Alexi Mostrous and Tortoise, who brought you Sweet Bobby.
In 2014, two children told police a shocking story: that they were being abused by a Satanic cult; a cult headed by their father and by parents and teachers at their school in the wealthy London suburb of Hampstead. The story was a lie. But on the internet, that didn't matter.
Gareth’s whole life has been defined by a relationship he had 35 years ago when, as a 14-year-old schoolboy, he fell in love with an attractive young teacher at his school. He spent most afternoons in her bedroom and thought he was the luckiest boy in the world. But when she walked out of his life everything started to unravel.
Lucky Boy is a four-part series in which Chloe Hadjimatheou asks who gets to be a perpetrator and a victim.
Gareth spent years believing he was a lucky boy. He was the 14-year-old who got the attention of the attractive young science teacher. Now, decades later, he wants the truth to come out about the damage it’s caused him. But his story is not straight forward.
What comes to mind when you think of Amber Heard? Liar? Survivor? Narcissist? Millions of us watched the celebrity trial of the century, Depp v Heard, in 2022. Amber Heard lost and Johnny Depp was vindicated. But what if Amber was actually the victim of an organised trolling campaign? What if the online hate against her was manufactured?
Alexi Mostrous, the reporter who brought you Sweet Bobby and Hoaxed, investigates what happened to Amber and who might have been responsible. It’s a story about how our own thoughts and opinions can be moulded without us even realising.
Kirat and Bobby have an unusual relationship. The circumstances of their individual lives mean it’s difficult for them to meet face to face but, despite everything, they end up falling in love.
Their romance might play out online but in many ways it’s a traditional love story. Until Kirat discovers the disturbing truth.
Sweet Bobby is the #1 chart-topping, award-winning series about a sophisticated ten year scam that almost destroyed one woman’s life, and the investigation into the catfisher behind it all.
