By: Kendall Casey
Heart pumping, gory but intriguing, can barely listen, but also cannot get enough. True crime media is any media that explores the details of actual crimes, including films, podcasts, publications, and TV. It includes produced shows as well as news and social media coverage of prominent trials. From the Gabby Petito and Kyle Rittenhouse hashtags trending on TikTok, to Adnan Syed on the podcast Serial, to the Jeffery Dahmer show on Netflix, people are waiting for the next big crime. However, this leads to the issue of true crime’s impact and how public scrutiny can change the course of a case.
True crime’s origin can be traced back to as early as the 16th century, as a result of the development of the criminal justice system and the printing press. However, with the advances in technology, the platforms that consumers use to access true crime have also evolved. The increase in true crime books, podcasts, shows, documentaries, and videos of criminal trials on social media demonstrates the growing interest in the true crime genre. Now, true crime is the largest subgenre of documentaries and is growing faster than any other genre.
True crime coverage can call attention to the injustices of the criminal justice system, such as the podcast Serial, which highlighted suspicions in the prosecution of Adnan Syed. Weekly episodes revealed the existence of an alibi witness for Syed that the defense did not contact to testify. In September, the court reviewed the case and overturned Syed’s conviction. Syed’s attorney made an important point about true crime media and its impact: “[t]he thing about these convictions that are so old is that they die in the dark. They need light. They need oxygen.”
True crime can also encourage individuals to step in and get involved in cases, often prompting people to become “citizen sleuths.” When Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old woman who was traveling with her fiancée, went missing, people went to social media to piece together the case themselves. Everyone had different theories and often shared them on social media. While social media gave investigators a place to start and provided a rich source of tips, the different theories spread misinformation, such as potential sightings of Petito that turned out to be misleading.
True crime can influence people’s understanding of the criminal justice system, specifically those called to be jurors. True crime media aims to engage listeners and keep them interested throughout the episode by emphasizing significant evidence and drawing conclusions based on that evidence. However, in the courtroom, attorneys are limited in the manner and order in which they present evidence, which generally requires jurors’ full attention for longer periods of time. Further, social media can affect jurors’ perceptions of a case when the news and social media cover the case before or during the trial. For example, Kyle Rittenhouse was all over the news, and #KyleRittenhouse had been trending on TikTok with 596 million views. During jury selection, the judge asked if anyone had not heard of the case. In response, not a single person raised their hand. When jurors are exposed to cases outside of the courtroom, it raises a plethora of issues regarding their ability to be impartial.
The exploitative nature of true crime can lead to revictimization for both the victim and the victims’ families. For example, following Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story, a series that rose to be Netflix’s second most popular series of all time, the victims’ families emphasized how it caused them to reexperience the trauma of their family members’ murders. Further, Hae Min Lee’s brother felt betrayed and described what many families face from their stories being told: “[e]very day, when I think it’s over, whenever I think it’s over, or it’s ended, it always come back. . . This is not a podcast for me, this is real life.”
While it is challenging to create true crime media without revictimizing the real people involved, producers have an ethical responsibility to promote social justice and advocacy since they profit from the real stories of victims. One way to minimize revictimization is to keep the victim as the main focal point of the story. For example, the docuseries, The Keepers, reviews the murder of a Baltimore nun and school teacher. However, it is told through interviews with the victim’s prior students to keep the victim at the center of the series.
Whether through podcasts, Netflix shows, YouTube videos, or TikToks, people are intrigued by true crime. True crime media can be beneficial to highlight the weaknesses and biases in the criminal justice system and to serve as an advocate for those who may not otherwise have one. However, true crime media can harm the jury process and the families and victims trying to recover from a tragedy. For true crime media to be an agent of change, listeners must understand the difference between true crime and the courtroom, and producers must understand the difference between exploitation and advocacy.
Student Bio: Kendall Casey is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. She is a staff writer for the Journal of High Technology Law. Kendall received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management and Bachelor’s of Arts in Spanish Studies from the University of Delaware.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
