True crime is a captivating subsection of modern-day media and online culture. Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying that its popularity has significantly skyrocketed over the past decade. Garnering huge fan bases and widespread popularity, its consumption seems to be insatiable. There is good that can happen as a result of true crime media; however, it is a double-edged sword overflowing with ethical dilemmas. As an avid true crime watcher myself, I wanted to highlight some of the questions I ask myself about true crime media in relation to its ethics and value.
Is this piece Sensationalizing tragedy?
Sensationalization sells. Regardless of the sensitive nature of true crime, creators still use marketing practices to draw in viewers just as they would for non-crime-related media.
“We want ratings because … no ratings, no show,” Charlie Tuggle, a UNC Chapel Hill professor, said.“No show, no paycheck.”
Toggle was cited throughout an article, which covered society’s fascination with true crime. Interestingly, the professor offered insight into the phenomenon of sensationalization in the true crime genre. To turn a profit, they must push their content in modern and flashy ways.
True crime media, such as documentaries and podcasts, utilize catchy, clickbaity, and insensitive titles as well as language to promote their content. For instance, podcasts frequently use objectively distasteful adjectives within their titles to increase viewership. As the morbidity of these terms adds to the allure of the case they are about to dive into, which attracts viewership. Words like brutal, horrific, and gruesome might be mere adjectives in other situations, but here they mean more, representing the real pain and tragedy of others, exploited for clicks. It is crucial that, as viewers, we try to wholeheartedly understand the weight that these words can have on victims and their cases.
Descriptions and language used within various types of true crime media not only sensationalize events but also lessen emphasis on victims and their experiences. When abhorrent language and comedy are interlaced with true crime, there is a sense of making light of others’ tragedy and pain, raising questions about the morals of this type of content.
IS this piece information or profit-driven?
Advertisements and merchandising are two other influential avenues in which the true crime industry has been able to turn a profit. This ranges from brand deals to launching clothing lines, which overall highlights a moral grey area.
Although this is not the biggest deal, as this is the way in which these production teams make a living, it is still something to think about when ingesting true crime. Are media groups doing this for a purpose and to raise awareness for cases, or are they solely motivated by profit?
This could be an unpopular opinion, but interrupting a broadcast about someone’s absolute worst moment to do an ad read for pet food or meal plans feels off to me.
How do Demographic biases inform this piece?
Not all victim demographics are covered equally in the true crime sphere.
In a WBUR broadcast, they stated, “the majority of true crime is created by white women, consumed by white women, and about white, female victims.” Consuming true crime media that prioritizes white-female victims can leave out the experiences of other minorities.
Furthermore, a 2023 study published by the Sage Journals analyzes “Missing White Woman Syndrome.” This piece of research dives into the “media’s tendency to overrepresent missing White women/girls compared to missing women/girls of color.”
The article provides great insight into demographic bias, as well as offers a comprehensive look into the trends seen in media coverage of female victims.
True crime isn’t the problem,..It’s how people approach it, who is telling the story and whose stories are not being told that’s the problem.
Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of digital platforms and ethics, to University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication, https://journalism.uoregon.edu/news/true-crime-genre-ethics
With all of this being said, I do not think true crime media as a whole is bad or entirely negative by any means. I think that true crime media has an amazing opportunity to showcase lesser-known cases that need attention.
True crime media can be a catalyst for change. None of this is to emphasize that you should stop consuming crime-related content, but rather that we should all be more diligent and conscientious about our consumption and intentions behind listening!
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