The ethics of true crime content: a legal perspective

International relations student, Eliza Mahmud, analyses the popularity of true crime media and its effects on society

Since the pandemic there has been a surge in the fascination with true crime, with around half of Americans stating in a 2022 poll that they were fans of the genre. Many organisations have been capitalising on this true crime frenzy, such as Netflix, with their dramatisations like the Monsters series, documentaries and true crime YouTubers and podcast hosts. As a result, important, positive discussions have been introduced around how true crime content can develop awareness of crime and highlight flaws with the the legal system.

However, with the growing obsession with true crime, the stories of real victims become obscured by the blending of reality and entertainment, so how ethical is the presentation of true crime in the media, really? And what role does the law play in navigating this growing cultural phenomenon?

Legal Implications and the Effects of True Crime Media

“Trial by media”

True crime narratives often blur the line between storytelling and reality, which can desensitise viewers to the severity of cases and discredit victims’ struggles. This can also have a dangerous impact on those accused of crimes; when true crime is presented in the media, judgements of the public arise around the innocence and guilt of accused criminals, and weakens the criminal law precept: “innocent until proven guilty”.

This becomes particularly harmful in the media coverage of ongoing true crime cases when the facts of a case do not align with ideas and presumptions that people hold, risking interference with the defendant’s right to a fair trial. True crime portrayals can therefore lead to serious legal implications, such as wrongful convictions and defamation. The “trial by media” phenomenon causes defendants to be judged through a court of public opinion influenced by the way they are represented in the media.

A recent example of the harmful effects of true crime is the portrayal of Fiona Harvey in Netflix’s series Baby Reindeer. After a character allegedly based on her was depicted as a stalker, she was hunted down by the public and became the recipient of harassment and even death threats. Harvey has filed a £132 million defamation lawsuit against Netflix due to this depiction, claiming to suffer from significant personal distress, proving how trial by media can have devastating consequences for victims of crime, but also defendants.

Privacy and consent concerns

Ethical and legal concerns are frequently raised surrounding the matters of privacy and consent in true crime media. True crime content creators often rely on public records such as court documents, news reports, and public testimonies and hearings — but legal access to these does not necessarily absolve them of ethical responsibility when presenting true crime cases in the media. Because of this lack of legal protection, victims and their families are often thrust into the public eye without their consent.

Although Netflix’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story had become the second most popular show by 2023, it faced significant backlash after the recreation of real-life events. For example, Rita Isbell’s emotional victim impact statement was used in the show without her consent. Isbell criticised the series for exploiting her pain, bringing into question whether dramatisations based on public records infringe upon privacy rights.

Legal frameworks in the US provide limited protection for victims and their families, focusing more on defamation rather than privacy invasion or emotional harm; they can even in some cases protect true crime content creators rather than the victims through free speech and press rights laws. Current laws can therefore be criticised on whether they adequately protect victims and their families’ privacy, given the risk of re-traumatisation.

This controversy over the privacy and consent concerns brought by Netflix’s portrayal of the Dahmer case thus underscores the need for a reformation of the legal system addressing the balance between freedom of expression and the dignity of those involved in real-life tragedies. While facts cannot be copyrighted, due to public interest in true crime cases it is suggested that a balance between public curiosity and respect for personal privacy must be established.

The role of the legal system

Impacts on legal proceedings

Due to the saturation of true crime content in the media today, public perception of crime and defendants can extend to the dynamics of the courtroom. For example, the “CSI Effect” refers to how consumption of true crime media, like crime television shows (such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation),can lead to jurors developing unrealistic expectations about forensic evidence, which can then influence verdicts. Legal practitioners must therefore be aware of the possibility of such occurrences and consider potential biases during jury selection and trial proceedings.

Although true crime media has recently inspired more people to join the legal profession, it has also contributed to the “juridification” phenomenon transpiring in the UK. This is when social and economic activities become governed by legal rules. While this can promote accountability and the protection of rights, juridification may also lead to the concept of legal framing, whereby issues are overanalysed, interpreted, and addressed predominantly through a legal lens. This can be problematic for the legal justice system as it can reduce complex social issues to legal disputes, prioritising these procedures over systematic contexts such as inequality.

The portrayal of true crime in the media perpetuates this by sensationalising trials and romanticising law enforcement, with a focus on punishment rather than reform. This could potentially narrow public understanding of the legal system in reality, which can lead to people abusing it and wasting law enforcement resources and taxpayers’ money.

Advocacy and reform

Depictions of true crime cases in the media have the opportunity to become a vessel for advocacy and reform, exposing systematic flaws and promoting public engagement in important issues that derive from crime, such as sexual and monetary. Documentaries, podcasts (such as True Crime with Kendall Rae) , and film and television series have emphasised wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct, and institutional biases, which have often led to significant societal and legal changes. For example the 2015 HBO documentary series The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst  helped to identify Robert Durst as a murderer through his unintentional confession when recording a documentary of his crimes.

While true crime can foster awareness and change, creators of true crime content must ensure that they present cases through accurate and ethical storytelling. Sensationalism and glamorisation of crime and the legal justice system risk overshadowing efforts for reformation but, when responsibly handled, the creation of true crime content has the potential to bridge the gap between public awareness and actionable legal reform, perhaps even helping to solve cold cases.

To make true crime content more ethical, there could be an improvement in the creation of laws and the implementation of existing ones. For example, laws regarding privacy protection could be enhanced through measures such as required consent from victims and their families prior to dramatisations or reenactments of their stories.

Furthermore, strengthened defamation laws and industry-specific ethical guidelines could be enforced to ensure accurate and respectful storytelling. There could also be regulations put into effect redirecting profits from true crime portrayals towards victim support, charities, or the reformation of justice.

Conclusion

The creation of true crime content, following the popularity of the genre, has recently had a larger focus on profiting off of people’s tragedies rather than bringing awareness to their struggles, hardly aligning with ethical values. However, balancing a responsibility of morality with creative freedom could allow for content in this field to advocate and evoke real change in how the legal system operates and is perceived. True crime media needs a shift towards righteous and respectful representations, and the legal system needs to hold content creators accountable to ensure this becomes a reality.

Eliza Mahmud is in her first year, studying international relations.

The Legal Cheek Journal is sponsored by LPC Law.