New work highlighted by Ontario Tech storytelling ethics researcher Dr. Emilia King is examining how creators can expand a true story’s audience without losing the trust of the people at its centre.
King, an assistant professor in the university’s Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, co-created the 2022 investigative podcast Catch Him if You Can. The project has now been adapted into the four-part Crave documentary series Fool Me Once: Hunting Marcel Vautour.
Podcast developed into television series
The podcast followed the case of alleged serial romance scammer Marcel Vautour. Ontario Tech says information uncovered during the project contributed to a police investigation.
King created the podcast through Pink Moon Studio with Dr. Maggie Reid and Evan C. King. She later served as an executive and associate producer on the television documentary.
The move from long-form audio to television brought more collaborators and production considerations. King says podcasting can give independent creators time to build relationships with contributors and develop original work, while television requires a more concise approach.
Consent and contributor agency remain central
King’s research focuses on whether consent remains ongoing, who benefits from a project, who could be harmed and what consequences contributors may face. She says creators working independently need to bring their own discipline when traditional editorial safeguards are absent.
Those ideas now inform her teaching, her work with Ontario Tech’s Creators4Change Studio and the university’s new Master of Social Media Communication in Online Creators program, which she helped design.
The Oshawa university frames the work through its “tech with a conscience” approach. Digital tools can help independent stories reach large audiences, but the choices made during production can have lasting effects on the people whose experiences are being shared.
The Ontario Tech storytelling ethics discussion was published by the university on October 8.
