Strong journalism deserves a strong productional partner. A partner that enforces the newsroom while significantly reducing the operational workload. That’s exactly what House of Media does as an integrated production partner for Van Moord tot Verdict of Het Belang van Limburg. What started as editorial support in 2023, quickly evolved into a structural collaboration.
Strengthening the editorial team
True crime demands time. The research is extensive, the interviews require building trust and the scripts need precision. To make this demanding workflow sustainable within a busy newsroom, the House of Media team, under the lead of Kaja Verbeke, takes full ownership of the production process for their own podcast episodes:
Research and structure each case
Contact and coordinate all involved parties
Conduct interviews
Write scripts
Handle the audio production and editing
“It’s incredible to see a whole case laid out on paper, to immerse yourself in it, and in that way, visualize the story unfolding. It’s not just interesting as a podcast maker, but it also helps tremendously to report accurately and decide what parts of the story to include or exclude.”
– Kaja Verbeke, editor-in-chief
Meanwhile, the editorial team at Het Belang van Limburg remains closely involved by providing feedback, journalistic guidance and access to their extensive archive, expertise and network. This ensures that Van Moord tot Verdict remains firmly anchored in the newspaper’s DNA and journalistic standards.
“I always start with very extensive research into everything that happened by scouring archives. Every name or place I come across, I look up. The biggest problem you encounter is that it usually happened several years ago, which makes it harder to find someone.”
– Matthias Corneillie, editor
Sustainable growth
Thanks to this collaboration, the series can run consistently without putting pressure on the internal team’s capacity. The result is a podcast that lives among listeners, generates engagement and strengthens the media brand. In 2025 the team started working on a spin off series that will launch soon!
Thank you Kaja Verbeke, Matthias Corneillie, Emma Vanpaemel, Ella Van Eynde, Kaatje De Coninck and Sarah Verhoeven for turning curiosity into clarity and embracing your inner detectives!