With a judge expecting to make a decision at any time, we want to give our viewers not only the crucial information surrounding Adnan Syeds case, but also the personal, firsthand accounts of what to expect from key players.

Amid child care crisis aggravated by COVID, money tops wish list for Maryland providers Three people killed, five injured in shootings across Baltimore on Thursday, police say U.S.

When it comes to what counts, Biden strong, sure and focused in first press conference COMMENTARY Passover accentuates themes of deliverance for Baltimores Jews of color Debate over new Maryland sports gambling industry enters final stages Advertisement Advertisement David Zurawik Columnists Opinion Adnan Syed up close yet impersonal in new TV special By David Zurawik The Baltimore Sun Jun 03, 2016 at 5:01 PM The narrative of the Adnan Syed case is so compelling that each time I write about it, I have to remind myself that a real Baltimore teenager was killed and her real family members continue to mourn.

I repeated that process about halfway through a screening of the Investigation Discovery production Adnan Syed: Innocent or Guilty that premieres later this month on the Maryland-based channel.

Advertisement Remember: These are real people that all these talking heads are talking about, I wrote in my notes, NOT characters in a made-for-TV movie.

Hae Min Lee at prom.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Archives Investigation Discovery) Easy to say, hard to hold on to while watching a fast-paced, smoothly constructed true-crime TV production with re-enactments, hyped-up narration and crime scene photos.

I suspect most viewers will just get onboard this prime-time train and ride it for 60 minutes straight to the end.

This is, after all, the channel with such shows as Southern Fried Homicide and Swamp Murders.

The program flow is one of tragedy, murder and death often involving young women.

Advertisement Advertisement Theres an appetite for true crime, no doubt about that.

And Investigation Discovery intends to fill it, even if its idea of an investigation doesnt quite live up to some of the journalistic standards I associate with that word.

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The scheduling of Adnan Syed: Innocent or Guilty this month certainly seeks to exploit a current information void on the case, as an audience of millions created by the Serial podcast in 2014 awaits a ruling from a Baltimore judge on whether or not Syed will get a new trial.

The wait has been on since the conclusion of a postconviction hearing in February.

Look for other network, cable and streaming outlets to be offering similar reports in coming weeks.

The media cant get enough of this story of teen love and murder.

And its relevance more than 17 years after the crime is understandable.

Theres a legitimate Romeo and Juliet resonance but with a very American twist.

Syed was born in the U.S., but his parents come from Pakistan.

Lee emigrated with her mother and brother in 1980 from South Korea.

Family opposition to their relationship made Baltimore Countys Woodlawn High School, where they were students in 1999, one of the only places they could be together.

Advertisement The prosecution further upped the emotional content by injecting religion and probably some prejudice into the case by emphasizing Syeds religion, Islam, and suggesting his ethnic and religious background gave him a special motive for revenge as a jilted lover.

Indeed, it appears that the prosecutor relied on ethnic and religious stereotypes in contending that Mr.

Syed committed the murder because his honor was besmirched, claiming it was the defendants religious beliefs that motivated him to kill, Mansi Shah, president of the South Asian Bar Association of North America, wrote in a letter to The Baltimore Sun in 2015.

Most read Amid child care crisis aggravated by COVID, money tops wish list for Maryland providers But the big reason the media love this story so much is the phenomenal commercial success of the Serial podcast by Sarah Koenig, a former Sun reporter.

The serialized podcast in 2014 has more than 130 million downloads to date, proving unequivocally that this is one of the great true-crime stories of our time, Henry Schleiff, group president of the Investigation Discovery, American Heroes and Destination America channels, said in a statement.

Hae Min Lee Body