NEW ORLEANS — Hundreds of true crime aficionados descended on New Orleans Friday for the opening day of CrimeCon, an annual convention highlighting scandalous or underreported crimes and the people who shed light on them.
The convention started at noon with attendees flooding into Podcast Row. Podcasters from popular shows such as Oxygen's Martinis & Murder and regional podcasts such as Southern Fried True Crime met with fans and took selfies in front of their booths.
But one of the booths on Podcast Row was for a show that isn't out yet.
Tegna (WWL-TV's parent company) is planning to launch True Crime Chronicles on June 24. The podcast digs into the archives of Tegna stations around the country (including WWL, Tegna owns 49 TV stations in 41 areas) and talks with the people involved, from reporters to witnesses and prosecutors.
Jessica Noll, a podcast host and producer, was covering cold cases in Georgia when she was tapped to co-host the upcoming series with Executive Producer Will Johnson.
"We're diving into our vault, or our archives, throughout Tegna, so it's going to cover all across the country," Noll said, standing in front of a map of the U.S. by the Tegna booth. "We have some really good ones to start everything out."
Attendees were encouraged to write their favorite true crime story or case and pin it to the map where the case took place, potentially giving Noll and her team a tip about what to cover next.
"We had a lot of great stories coming by the booth, people talking to us about stories that have just stuck with them from their hometowns," she said. "It's a really unique opportunity to get a feel for national stories even outside of what we know with a lot of our Tegna stations."
Noll said many of the stories she has read fascinated her, and have already given her ideas for where to go with the podcast in future episodes.
"One of Ted Bundy's survivors came by, and actually wrote hers on it and put it on the baord," she said, guesturing to the pin. "Obviously she has a very fascinating story and we would love to do a podcast with her."
CrimeCon runs from June 7-9 in New Orleans. New episodes of True Crime Chronicles will go live weekly starting on June 24. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
