TW: This guide contains content that references murder, sexual assault, and other violent crimes. Viewer discretion is advised.
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The Ethics of the True Crime Genre
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True crime is a genre that involves the presentation of information about real-life criminal cases. Media within this genre typically involves accounts of facts, a timeline of events, and potential speculation from the author/creator or others involved with the case. Oftentimes, the creator will explore the case within the context of the political climate of the time, the history of a town, and the struggles of a particular community. This allows a full picture of the case to be portrayed and the atmosphere surrounding the crime to be recreated. True crime media can cover individual events or an account of collective crimes committed by individuals or groups.
True crime as a genre has risen in popularity in recent years, as intrigue and interest has increased. Thus has resulted in the creation of various forms of media to cater to this new audience. Some of the most popular true crime media comes in the form of books, movies/documentaries/series, podcasts, and social media accounts/channels; all of which will be covered in this guide.