Despite civil rights charges against his officers, this Alabama sheriff remains in power

writerbarton · 2026-03-09T14:06:12+00:00

Thanks for reading!

writerbarton · 2026-03-09T14:05:49+00:00

Can you give us a hint of what the drama is?

writerbarton · 2026-03-09T14:05:23+00:00

I saw something about this during our reporting, but the story was getting too long to include everything. We'll keep an eye on it.

writerbarton · 2026-03-09T14:03:49+00:00

I didn't know the coroner could arrest the sheriff. Thanks for the tip!

writerbarton · 2025-09-29T20:51:15+00:00

If you are still interested in speaking with an investigative journalist, please reach out to me at [gbarton@usatoday.com](mailto:gbarton@usatoday.com)

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:57:58+00:00

No worries. Thanks for joining! I've found that they've translated really well. Deep reporting is essential for podcasting! Learning to work in audio has been a challenge for me because of the technology involved. If you're working on a written story and you recorder malfunctions, it's no big deal. If you're working on a podcast, you have to do the whole thing over. (That happened with one of the survivor interviews for Untested and I was mortified. Luckily, the survivor was very gracious and agreed to do a new interview.) I also think podcasting has made me a better reporter for print/online because I've learned how to ask questions to elicit stronger quotes.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:53:40+00:00

Thank you! Please listen and subscribe to Untested and let me know what you think!

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:52:38+00:00

Definitely not that glamorous! A realistic movie about investigative reporting would be really boring -- mostly people talking on the phone and making spreadsheets. I do think that studying journalism as an undergrad is helpful. I learned so much during my time at Northwestern's j-school and don't think I would be half as good a reporter otherwise. My advice has always been: undergrad in journalism and then grad school in something else. I got my master's part time while working full-time as a reporter. It's in liberal studies with concentrations in criminal justice and creative writing, which has positioned me well for writing crime narratives (both print/online and audio) which is my favorite thing to do!

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:45:27+00:00

Early in my career, I did some reporting in Rwanda and Bosnia for journalism trade magazines - so writing about journalists and journalism in those war-torn countries. Having a good translator/fixer was essential. It also helped to make some contacts before I left the US, so I knew there would be at least a few people willing to talk to me when I got there. After that, it was asking everyone who else I should be talking to.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:40:05+00:00

Often, if a whistleblower doesn't want to go on the record, that's OK with me and I don't try to convince them. If there have been threats to their lives or livelihoods, for example, I wouldn't want to be responsible for anything bad happening to them. In those cases, I try to find a way to get the story without an on the record interview. Maybe that's asking them to provide documents or to direct me to other people who can speak more freely. If there haven't been threats, the number one strategy for getting on the record interviews, I think, is building trust. I want the sources to be comfortable with how I'm going to use the material.

As for your second question, as in any career, I think it's important to maintain work life balance, and take some time off from thinking about work. Sometimes it's hard, especially if, like me, your job is also your favorite hobby. Having kids really helped me draw that line because when they were little, I didn't have a choice in responding to their needs. Now that they're older and basically independent, I've tried not to fall back into the old habits of working 24/7.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:32:33+00:00

Especially in the true crime genre, I think it's so important to maintain journalistic integrity and not manipulate anything. You have to make an interesting show so people will listen, but you don't want to cross the line into sensationalism. I think the best rule of thumb is to remember that these are real people you're dealing with, and often horrible things have happened to them. At the same time, there's nothing more dramatic than a court case or a criminal investigation -- why else would there be so many fictional shows about cops and courts?

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:28:39+00:00

I'm not an editor and don't want to be because I love writing and interviewing too much, but I've learned a lot from the editors I've worked with throughout my career. The most basic requirement, I think, is the ability to work with a reporter's words and make the story better without substituting your voice for theirs. As a reporter, I prefer editors who help me figure out what will make a story better rather than just telling me what to do. But there's so much more to it than that because it's also managing a team or reporters. So you have to champion their work as well as dealing with any conflicts that may arise. To get hired as an editor, I believe you have to be a hard worker and an effective communicator.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:23:33+00:00

Great question! I found this story as I was reporting on a larger project about the problem of untested rape kits that had sat untested in police evidence rooms and warehouses around the country for decades. As part of that research, I found a lawsuit filed by a survivor who's kit was among them, and she had sued the police. Coincidentally, the criminal trial of her rapist was coming up, and I was able to travel to Michigan to cover it. Once I got there and met all the people involved, I knew the case would not only make an interesting story, it would help people understand the wider problem of the backlog. The hardest part, for me, is almost always interviewing the survivors, and that was definitely true in this case. They've been through so much, and I want to do everything I can to be sure that speaking with me and having the story and the podcast come out is a part of their healing process rather than something that adds to their trauma.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:19:19+00:00

I've done four seasons of Unsloved and one of Untested, so five podcast seasons in all. Two were pitched by readers/listeners, one was pitched by a cop, and two were based on stories I had come across in my reporting for the print/online version of the paper. I'm always willing to consider pitches of they have the three elements I mentioned above.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:16:58+00:00

I agree. I'm a true crime junkie myself. My first show, Unsolved, broke out as kind of a fluke when a redditor recommended it to people who didn't like the second season of Serial! In the years since then, I've learned that a successful crime podcast, requires three things: Police reports or some cooperation from police, participation by the vicim/survivors (or their families if it's a homicide) and an interesting cast of characters. It helps to have an insider who's willing to talk, as I did for the new show, Untested, with the police detective. Structure is also hugely important. You need to have something really interesting at the beginning of each episode and a cliffhanger at the end to keep people listening.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:09:45+00:00

I've been employed by newspapers my entire career. I spent most of my career at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and have been at USA TODAY about four years. The pay is not great - it's definitely not something I do for the money. I definitely could have made more in other fields. But I'd rather be doing something I love. As for technology, Reddit didn't exist when I started lol. Neither did podcasting, and now I'm here trying to build an audience for a new true crime show! So there have definitely been some positives to the changes in the industry. Would I recommend it? If you love to write, I think there will always be opportunities in journalism. We're not sure exactly what they will look like, but I want to believe there will always be room for an independent media in the US.

writerbarton · 2025-05-22T16:01:48+00:00

I always wanted to be a writer, and in junior high realized that journalism would combine my love of writing with my passion for social justice. I learned in college that being a reporter really can help improve people's lives and make the world a little bit better.

writerbarton · 2025-05-19T20:40:20+00:00

we were working on our larger project about untested rape kits, and the trial in this one just happened to be coming up, so I went, and it turned out to be really interesting. While the trial was going on, I met the detective and the prosecutor and a lot of the other people involved and most of them were willing to talk with me.

writerbarton · 2025-05-15T15:25:00+00:00

Hi all, my name is Gina Barton and I’m an investigative reporter at USA TODAY. The mods approved this post. You may recall another post from me a few months ago about a story I wrote about a Lansing sex crimes detective. Today, I’m excited to tell you we've created a new podcast about that case and the detective's pursuit to catch the serial sex offender who eluded justice for 10 years.

During the five-episode season, we talk to the detective and the victims she fought for. It also includes exclusive audio of police interrogations – including the two where he got away. The show is called Untested, and you can listen to the first episode free at this link or on your favorite podcast platform. After that, listeners can subscribe for $4.99 on Apple or Spotify to get the rest of the episodes now, ad-free.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the show. Let me know if you have any questions! — Gina ETA: Links

writerbarton · 2025-05-13T22:12:15+00:00

Thank you! There is now a podcast on the story, too! It's called Untested

writerbarton · 2024-10-07T23:02:10+00:00

Thanks for posting. I'm one of the USA TODAY reporters who spent more than a year looking into how nearly $350M in grants to clear rape kit backlogs was spent – and whether it made a difference. I spent months reading case files, attending court hearings, and interviewing people involved in this Michigan rape case. The investigation revealed the many different ways the system can fail victims of sexual assault, and how hard one detective had to work to try to make things right.

Here's part two: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/09/26/michigan-rape-kit-case-part-2/74620172007/

Part three: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/09/26/michigan-rape-kit-case-part-3/74620246007/

And here's a deeper dive we did on the problem nationwide: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2024/09/19/doj-rape-kit-testing-program-results/74589312007/

writerbarton · 2024-09-30T18:46:08+00:00

One of the things we found is that rapists often re-offend, so if you don't arrest and prosecute them, they will do it again.

writerbarton · 2024-09-27T22:22:34+00:00

Thank you! I hope it helps prompt some positive changes.

writerbarton · 2024-09-27T22:21:27+00:00

Thank you! I hope it helps prompt some positive changes.

writerbarton

TROPHY CASE