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True Crime Podcasts Essay

1104 Words5 Pages

Samantha Sedillo
English 102
Professor Creel
24 February 2023
True Crime Podcasts: What Is the Appeal? With the increasing viewership of crime media and podcasts, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the topic. In the article, ‘Undisclosed Information—Serial Is My Favorite Murder: Examining Motivations in the True Crime Podcast Audience’ by Keli Boling she explains that, “Fascination with true crime has been prevalent for decades (Durham, Elrod, & Kinkade, 1995). Marrying the ability to present facts from the real world in a fictional-like narrative format, true crime stories naturally blur the line between news and entertainment”(page 92). Podcasts have become a newer form of entertainment, especially true crime. True crime podcasts …show more content…

The listeners are separated by many different motives for listening. Oftentimes people look to media for a good story and an escape from their life and what they are doing at the moment. True crime listeners use podcasts to decompress and almost relax at the end of the day. But how could you relax listening to these horrible crimes? A study participant who listens to true crime podcasts says “I just love the personal, real stories about human nature and society and things that are outside the realm of what I’ve experienced”(13). Someone else agrees and says “These people lived, and somebody needs to tell their story . . . If something happened to me or my daughter or my son, I would want somebody to tell that story.” (13). This audience does not listen to crime podcasts to victim blame or use the information to plan out their crimes. Instead, they take these stories of people who went through the worst of human capability and learn from it. Many people might think that it is strange to listen to terrible details of murders and attacks, but it can be very beneficial to listen to these people’s stories and learn from them. People often are curious about the aftermath of the victims' lives and how they deal with the trauma and possible guilt of being a survivor. It helps people put themselves in other's shoes, similar to reading a book or watching a movie. Whether they use the stories to disclosive their problems or if they are just listening to a story, true crime podcasts create a different environment than any other media. Not only do they provide entertainment and an escape, but they also provide education to people who might not understand a criminal

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