The Boston Globe's Spotlight: Snitch City

About This Project

Summary

Spotlight: Snitch City, the new serialized podcast series from The Boston Globe’s award-winning Spotlight team, brings listeners inside the clandestine world of police informants, the backbone of the criminal justice system. After reviewing thousands of pages of court records and internal police documents and working dozens of sources, the podcast uncovers police misconduct, lies, and deception – and the travesties that can occur when no one’s watching.

Goals & Objectives

Host Dugan Arnett spent the last two years inside the secret world of police informants, where the stakes can be life and death. And no one wants to share how it really works. Dugan shares an unvarnished view into one small city at the forefront of America’s drug war: New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Results & Impact

800k+ downloads/views Topped “All” podcast charts Featured on Apple Podcasts, Spotify & Amazon Music Praised as “must-listen” by The Guardian, The New Yorker & NPR A drug trafficking case was tossed & New Bedford Police Chief retired just weeks after the podcast revealed deep problems in the dept.