James Goldston, former ABC News president, is behind Crime Nation, a true-crime anthology series that debuted on The CW February 20. The network ordered 10 episodes.
Goldston was the president of ABC News from 2014 to 2021. From the U.K., his career began at BBC News. He joined ABC News in 2004 as a senior producer of primetime specials and investigative reports and was soon promoted to executive producer of Nightline, a position he held until 2011. He was also senior executive producer at Good Morning America and senior VP for content and development at ABC News before becoming president.
Goldston stepped down in early 2021. In 2022, he and a production team edited footage from the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which became evidence in the House committee’s public hearings.
Now president of Candle True Stories, part of Candle Media, Goldston is doing what he calls his “first love,” which is storytelling. Each episode of Crime Nation features one story, including the Gilgo Beach murders and the killing of Gabby Petito.
Goldston spoke to B+C Multichannel News about whether he misses running a network news organization, what makes the U.S. a unique crime nation, and which case has stuck with him the most. An edited transcript follows.
B+C: What makes a crime story right for the show?
JG: We look for those cases where you think you might know a story, but there are new layers and new information coming out that enables you to reassess what it is that you know about them. We’re always trying to shine a new light on cases, bring new information to the fore, to see what happens when that bright light of the media goes away and what happens with these cases afterwards.
Each one of these is essentially done as its own two-hour-long documentary. So we need those stories that will really sustain for those two hours, where we can continually be bringing new information to the viewer to keep them intrigued and keep them learning.
B+C: Is there one crime that you just keep coming back to in your head?
JG: One of the first ones we’re doing, and this one’s particularly interesting because we’re learning new things about it all the time, is the Gilgo Beach case [which involved serial killings, mainly of sex workers, in Long Island, New York]. It was a cold case for so long, and people had all kinds of perceptions about that case. There’s a trial upcoming and we’re learning a lot more about the alleged perpetrator and also the victims and the lives that they led.
B+C: How does America stand out in terms of being a crime nation?
JG: The title is designed to be read on two levels. Obviously, we are a nation that is consumed by crime and the coverage of crime. But part of the reason for calling it Crime Nation is to reflect that culture and that national obsession with becoming involved in the process of solving crime as well, and the way that plays out over TikTok, Facebook, Reddit and every possible social media [platform] out there. There are communities all over the country coming together, fascinated by these crimes, with a genuine desire to see justice.
B+C: Do you find it hard to be immersed in crime so much?
JG: For sure. Some of these stories are very dark and very difficult. There are definitely times when one needs a good walk in the fresh air to cleanse one’s soul.
B+C: Do you miss running a network news organization?
JG: I don’t. I feel extremely fortunate to have run ABC News for almost eight years and to have worked at ABC News for almost 20 years.
Storytelling is my first love and I’m now the president of Candle True Stories. We’re part of Candle Media, the Kevin Mayer-Tom Stagg group that houses Hello Sunshine and Moonbug and a great number of media entities. I feel like I’ve gone back to my love of storytelling. I’m getting to do it in a slightly different form, which is actually very exciting. Last year I again did that in a slightly different form with the January 6th hearings, another way of bringing that knowledge of storytelling into a different form.
I’m fascinated by the art of storytelling and telling stories for different audiences and helping hopefully bring some understanding, and entertaining them at the same time.
B+C: Any influences on Crime Nation, whether it’s another crime show, a podcast, a film, a book?
JG: For many years I oversaw 20/20 and all of our crime content at ABC News. But the podcast revolution has really led into how true crime is covered, from Serial onwards, and particularly in the [Alex] Murdaugh [murder] case, which we cover in one of the episodes. And through the really excellent storytelling that’s been applied to some of these cases through the streaming revolution — we’ve tried to learn from all of those sources.
There’s an incredible amount of great, innovative storytelling happening. We try to draw from all of those innovations.
