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True Crime: Is True Crime Media Unethical?

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Is true crime media ethical?
Everyone loves watching true crime stories about serial killers, but do we ever think about the victims and their families while we consume these things? Of course, we do, but not because we are concerned about them and how that show/podcast could affect them, but because they are mentioned in the media we consume. Lately, many fans of true crime have noticed that their obsession with the genre has been a bit concerning. They are now beginning to question if their love for the true crime genre is ethical. Not all true crime media is unethical. Some are informative, but others are entertainment based, which makes them unethical. Therefore, some true crime media is unethical because the creators profit off victims' …show more content…

True crime, mostly, is made to entertain their audience. If one were to go through all media made about true crime, one would see that 9 out of 10 times the story for the media is based on the killer instead of the victim. The Netflix show “Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is one of many examples of how producers focus only on the killer. Dahmer has had many shows and movies made about him, and the families of Dahmer's victims have had to relive their trauma time and time again because of these producers who think that cases like these should be made into entertainment. The Dahmer show has had a lot of controversy surrounding it recently, “Relatives of Dahmer’s victims have been calling out the streaming service and the show’s producers for forcing them to relive the trauma of their losses without ever seeking their input.” (The Week Magazine 1). The families are not happy about it. Even watchers have thought the show was too disturbing. The way these shows are produced and advertised is unethical. Instead of making them bring awareness to the victims, they romanticize and fetishize the killers for …show more content…

Fans of the genre are a big part of making it unethical. Many fans do not have any respect for these real-life cases, they treat them as something to dissect and solve themselves. This was seen by fans in a recent case, the murder of four college students. The murder occurred on November 13, 2022, in Idaho. Since it was broadcasted on the news many true crime fans took it upon themselves to dissect and try to solve this case. They were not ever respectful of the case and how real those murders were. They would grow angry when the police would not release information and would try to find a suspect in the crime and would involve anyone who was even just a bit tied to the victims. Fans also would pick apart the victims and their families' lives. In a CNN article writer, Rachel Monroe talks about this case and how true crime fans reacted to it, “ But the more time I spent reading about the case online, the more uneasy I grew. In their hunger for more details, some people seemed to forget that we were talking about a real tragedy that had happened to real people and not an episode of television.” ( Monroe 2). The way fans treated this case shows how many fans see true crime as entertainment which causes them to treat it as a fictional

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Introduction Worldwide Jeffery Dahmer was acknowledged as a brutal horrific killer. These murders were caused by many issues that he had, including: his childhood, cannibalism, manipulation, and attachment issues. Between 1978 and 1991 Jeffery was committing killings around his home in the Oxford Apartment block considered the black community. “When arrested FBI found seven human skulls, two human hearts, a bag of organs, and numerous severed body parts were among the atrocities they uncovered at the home where he killed 12 of his victims” (Caitlin Hornik, 2022, p.1). Dahmer was finally arrested on July 22, 1991…two years later, Dahmer was killed at the age of 34 by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver (Jeffrey Dahmer Murdered in Prison, 2010).

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Throughout the process of the prelim trial, it was evident that the crown counsel and the chief of the police department were illegally monitoring a conversation between the defense lawyer and the accused (Rotenberg, 2009, p. 295). The uncovering of this fact should have led to a mistrial and severe consequences to the parties involves. Instead, the defence lawyer mentions that the parties involved were quietly forced to resign and got to keep their pensions, without the severe consequence of disbarment (Rotenberg, 2009, p. 354). This idea of corruption within the system is not only explored by Rotenberg in his novel, but several other shows and books discuss this at great length, including true crime documentaries. Making a Murderer, is a recent example of a true crime documentary that portrays Steven Avery as a victim to the corruption within the criminal justice system.

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When a corporation ignores safety protocol and a building fire kills its employees as a result, we don’t call that murder. Yet, all of those scenarios result in death. The people committing these horrendous acts are not punished like criminals because we don’t see their actions as crimes. They are seen as unfortunate side effects of progress, or “just the way things are.” The text begs you to look at your ideas about crime and to see them as distorted by the media, by our own bias, and by the justice system’s history of dealing with

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Media that could reflect the real America should be based on diversity of views, pluralism of opinion as the American society. First of all, when someone provides the truth of the actual situation, that person is automatically called a “whistle blower”. There are not many of those people, which are willing to expose all secrets that would benefit the society by finding out the actual story. As Goldberg elaborates in his insider book, danger is a big risk factor to them, losing a job for example, takes a lot of courage or foolishness to do that. Goldberg states that it should be normal common sense for the media give accurate information, which surprisingly does not happened in

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The “Making a Murder” television series is a series that focuses on a small town crime that goes nationwide. Steven Avery is the main focus in the series. A man that is apart of a family owned business is convicted of a crime that he did not commit. He still served his sentence until the justice system realized their mistake. Although he was innocent of the crime, it still left the man with a bad reputation.

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Although , Hayes was convicted, the public was convinced that police has caught the wrong man. On the other hand, “ the following hearing the next afternoon” all charges against Hayes were dropped (“The Murders of Hall and Mills”). All the charges against the cousin were also dropped five hours after (“Who killed the Pastor and the Choir Singer?”). Many people were confused on who the killer was since there were so many witnesses and trials being held. The article states the Hayes was the real killer because he thought it was Pearl Bahmer and another

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Public opinion can affect many cases and in this murder it did because they ended up putting away two men who should have never gone to jail. Public opinion can have many negative affects on cases but if we take a look at the other side of it their can be positives to public

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In Fahrenheit 451 Montag is on the run for murder and having books but he is able to get away. The government doesn’t want the people of the city to know that he got away so they arrest a different person. “‘The search is over, Montag is dead; a crime against society has been avenged’” (Bradbury 142). Similarly, fake news happens all the time in modern American society because of social media.

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Celebrities getting away with Murder Celebrities have been getting away with the most bizarre charges that the law has to offer since the beginning of time. Two similar cases that ended the life of a loved one occurred but had contrasting endings that are ,“A White Bronco? Too-Tight Gloves? A Guide to the O.J. Simpson Murder Trial for Those Who Missed the '90’s” by Lydia Price from People Crime and “Man who killed ex-wife in September pleads guilty, gets 50-year sentence ” by Marc Freeman from SunSentinel. The two news story cases differ in the way that People Crime explains how OJ received a pass by paying off a fee even though there is no evidence that OJ paid off anyone to get acquitted, while Sun Sentinel explains a monster that

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The endless stream of true crime and its consequences have been disastrous for the human race. True crime as a genre has taken a grasp of the world in recent years and refused to let it go. From series such as Dahmer, to Amanda Knox, services have been pumping out true crime content as though there is no other genre. This social adoration can trace its roots back to Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood '', this groundbreaking novel was not the first of its kind, but rather was the first to gain mass attention. Using real life events with a fictionalised narrative, Truman Capote fluffed up the murder of the Clutter family to serial acclaim.

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Each news source has its own social and political view on who is considered the offender and victim. The viewpoint of that source can affect an individual’s perception on the case.

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In reality, would you shoot an 18-year old for stealing something from a liquor store? Tons of people will maybe say yes, but there would be no reason for it. People always see the negative things about people than the positive things. Media is a big perpetrator that binds and twist information, that can only be true because otherwise they would not have anything to say. Our society needs to open their eyes and see the wrong in people when they have actually been wrong.

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Studies have shown that true crime carries an educational component by raising awareness of these situations. Olivia Hayes. Especially since the majority of people who listen to true crime are women, and the majority of victims of these tragic events are women. It helps us know the dangers and helps us be cautious and not let our guard down, especially in situations where the circumstances aren’t the safest. Even if you are in these tough situations, watching or listening to true crime can help reduce your anxiety during these fight or flight moments and instead gather information (Kaja Perina).

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For example, Parsons would not have been incriminated for thought crime despite his daughter’s prosecution of him (233). Again, today’s world encompasses something along the same lines, people against people. We can often observe these acts in media every time an article is published with slander about a person or rumors about a Hollywood star. Since the most popular stories are the ones that generate the most money, people often throw one another under the bus, disregarding them for the slight reward of more views.

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I believe that the newspaper companies should ethically report just facts instead of viewpoints. Moreover, when the media report these stories then they are condemning these bad behaviors. For example, Michael Brown just robbed a store and tried to steal the police officer’s gun prior to the shooting. However, what if Michael Brown got the police officer’s gun and shot one of the neighbors with that gun, then would it still have been the police officer’s fault.

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