True crime in literature has been around since the 17th century, initially captivating readers with the thrilling hunts for witchcraft and other sacrilegious acts. Modern-day shows like “Forensic Files” and “NCIS” have aired since the early 2000s, but it wasn’t until 2014, when the podcast “Serial” was launched, that true crime gained worldwide popularity spotlighting various riveting stories.
Intrigue, entertainment and a rush of adrenaline whenever, wherever contribute to true crime podcast’s popularity. A pathway into human nature’s more frightful characteristics, these podcasts allow listeners to play the detective as they solve puzzles, paying attention to the details of various mysteries.
These bone-chilling stories can also calm listeners, specifically women, as they are the target audience and most common listeners of true crime podcasts. When listening to these stories, people subconsciously learn different defense tactics and safety precautions. These podcasts have also been used to instate a sense of sympathy and awareness in various accounts, for example, the twisted story of Gypsy Rose and Clauddine Blanchard, a rebellion where Gypsy Rose killed her mother Clauddine Blanchard with the motive that her mother was slowly killing her for years. This has since gained popularity as debates on the merits of her release from prison flooded social media in December.
True crime podcasts can also bring unwanted attention by invading mourning families’ privacy and spreading misinformation. While some believe that true crime podcasts honor families by bringing awareness, many families find that this extra attention from social media can lead to a twisting of the facts or a failure to tell the full story. This makes families feel like their misfortunes are being turned into a marketing promotion as people can forget that these are true stories and not just actors. An example of this is the popular Jeffery Dhamer documentary that came out in late 2022 “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”. The show quickly became popular as viewers learned about the motives behind the infamous killer and the details of his story. Netflix, the streaming service behind the documentary, wasn’t required to get the victim’s family’s permission because all the information was already released to the public, but many families were hurt by the release of the show as it made them relive some of their most traumatizing moments.
True crime in general often includes more personal stories and interviews, leading to a more exploitative nature. To receive the full story, producers have to tap into the emotions and victims’ stories, which some can argue passes a boundary.
“It’s so easy to reduce these crimes to something fictional, especially if they’re so graphic it almost seems unrealistic, but that also takes away from the people who suffered from these events,” said Anika Krishnaiyer (‘25).
There are thousands of true crime podcasts around the world, so it is difficult to generalize the purpose and ethical reasoning behind them. Some podcasts respect the victim’s families and have positive intentions with their stories, while others are taking advantage of sensational stories for fame. Depending on the intentions of the story as well as with the proper privacy permissions granted to families, true crime is a great source of bringing awareness to certain stories or even teaching people survival techniques or self-defense. On the other hand, it is easy for privacy to be overlooked in the modern world with social media. Regardless of permissions, the true crime genre is exploitive, but not always unethical.
