NEW YORK, May 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Lava for Good, founded by renowned media executive, author, and justice activist Jason Flom, debuts its powerful new series, Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng. Hosted by celebrated journalist, producer, and podcast host Maggie Freleng, each week the podcast explores a different wrongful conviction case, featuring compelling and revealing conversations with men and women who have spent years in prison despite overwhelming evidence of their actual innocence.
Some of Maggie’s guests have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish in prison—with some even facing execution on death row. The first episode, released just ahead of Mother’s Day, features the case of Patty Prewitt, a 72-year-old mother of five, grandmother of thirteen, and a great-grandmother who is serving a life sentence after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of her husband.
“When I knew I wanted to be a journalist, I only wanted to do something impactful, to elevate the voices of people who are marginalized. I’ve been lucky enough to have a career where I can do that — amplify the voices of those who have suffered injustice or fallen through the cracks,” said Freleng. “Lava for Good shares my vision of making a difference through storytelling and forging human connections. I’m proud to partner with them in our work to effect change in individual lives and in our criminal legal system at large.”
Freleng, host and producer of the IDA Documentary Award-winning series Suave, Murder in Alliance, and Unjust and Unsolved, has been featured by such well-known outlets as the LA Times, MSNBC, People, HLN, WNYC, NPR, NBC, WHYY, The Boston Globe, and HuffPost. She has been named a “NPR Next Generation Radio fellow” and counted in Ford Foundation’s “50 Women Can Change the World in Journalism.” In addition, Freleng was formerly an on-screen journalist for VICE and Oxygen.
Drawing on his nearly 30 years on the front lines of criminal justice reform and innocence advocacy, Jason Flom launched his Wrongful Conviction podcast to tell first-hand stories of wrongfully incarcerated men and women and to inform and inspire a wider audience about the scourge of mass incarceration in America. With a backlog of hundreds of cases left to cover, he and the Lava for Good team sought another compelling voice to join Jason in investigating and telling these stories and amplifying the urgent need for reforms. Long admirers of Freleng — a celebrated journalist in the innocence space — Flom asked her to join Lava for Good as a new host of the Wrongful Conviction series.
Founded and led by Flom along with Lava Media COO Jeff Kempler, Lava for Good creates standout original content, podcasts, and experiences in association with Signal Co. No1 with the goal of advocacy and impact through storytelling.
Lava for Good has received numerous Webby honors and awards, as well as a 2022 Silver Anthem Award for Human & Civil Rights - Best Strategy. Downloaded over 30 million times, its #1-charting lineup of true crime and social justice podcasts have been credited with influencing exonerations, clemencies, pardons, and legislative reforms nationwide.
To listen to the current slate of Lava for Good series, find them on all popular podcast streaming platforms. To learn more, visit www.lavaforgood.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/67b0f813-16a0-4925-aaf1-0935cbaa95b0
