Research examines the good, bad and ugly of true crime media
True crime is a lucrative genre, topping ratings and spawning online communities. But despite its popularity — and its ability to highlight cases that need attention — the production of true crime has a dark side, often adding to the trauma experienced by victims’ loved ones.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln scholar Kelli Boling published new research highlighting the impacts of true crime media on the family and friends of crime victims. Through in-depth interviews with 20 co-victims — all of whom experienced their loved ones’ stories told through true crime media — Boling and co-author Danielle Slakoff of California State University, Sacramento, found that co-victims often have to wrestle with a dichotomy between feeling an immense loss of privacy amid grief and wanting the media’s help to keep a criminal case in the public eye in the pursuit of justice.
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