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Why do some true crime cases get more attention than others? · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Ever notice how some true crime cases they just explode, Yeah,
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  like everyone's talking about them, podcasts, documentaries, the whole works. Yeah. Yeah,
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  you mentioned you're super into true crime at I am
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  I Am, and how some cases just become these huge
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  cultural moments while others kind of fade away.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's what we're diving deep into today.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. It's it's really interesting, isn't it. Yeah, it's not
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  as simple as just like one case is more interesting
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  than the other. There's a lot more to it, a
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  lot more going on. Yeah, we're going to look at
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  how the media plays a role, social factors, okay, even psychology.
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  Speaker 1: So should we just jump right in with like the
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  media's role in all of this?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, because I mean they really they play a
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  huge role.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they do.
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  Speaker 2: It's likely they're the storytellers, right yeah, and they're drawn
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  to these narratives that are well they're gripping you know, mysteries,
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  shocking twists, the classic who doing it? It's true and
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  you know, let's be real, those stories. They get clicks,
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  they get views, oh yeah, engagement, engagement, which let's face
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  it means more money.
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  Speaker 1: For them totally. So it's almost like a it's a loop. Yeah, right,
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  the more we see it, the more we talk about it.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it becomes this like self perpetuating cycle.
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  Speaker 1: It does. And I have to admit, like I've gotten
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  sucked into that. Before. There was this one missing person
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  case and I was like reading everything, every article, every
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  news update, totally hooked.
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  Speaker 2: Oh really and what happened?
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  Speaker 1: Well, it turned out a lot of the early information
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  it was just wrong, Wow, completely inaccurate or blown way
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  out of proportion. The media had this angle and it
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  just snowballed from there, and I realized, like they have
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  a lot of power in shaping how we think about
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  a case.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's so easy to get caught up in that,
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  you know, the drama, the headlines, but we have to
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  remember that their main goal. It's not always about giving
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  us the full unbiased picture, you know, right, But you
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  know it's important to remember that media attention it's not always.
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  Speaker 1: A bad thing, that's true. Sometimes it's what brings a
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  case to light exactly and hopefully gets justice exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Like look at what podcasts have done for cold cases.
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  You know, cases that were basically forgotten are suddenly back
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  in the spotlight.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, new leads.
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  Speaker 2: New leads, sometimes even arrests.
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  Speaker 1: Arrests. It's crazy, it's incredibly powerful. It is it's like
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  giving a voice to people who didn't have one before.
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  But I mean, like you said, there's always another side, always,
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  and not every case is treated the same way exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, this is where it gets a little uncomfortable,
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  but it's really important to talk about. And that's how
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  the victim, you know, who they are, their background, It
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  really affects how much attention a case gets. It's true,
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  it's a tough reality, but it's true. Certain types of victims,
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  and we've seen this time and time again, they just
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  get way more attention.
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  Speaker 1: It's the what is it the missing white woman syndrome exactly,
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  Like I feel like that's been a term for a while,
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  but it's still so relevant.
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  Speaker 2: It's very relevant, and it's not just a media thing.
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  This reflects like deep biases in society that we all
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  kind of you know.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not just race either, right, Yeah, from what
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  we've seen, like how much money someone has where they live.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, that plays a role, too huge role.
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  Speaker 1: Like a crime in a wealthy neighborhood that's going to
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  get a lot more attention, of course than something similar
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  in a less affluent area.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, it really is complicated, isn't it. Yeah, And
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  it just like it highlights that fact that not all
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  victims are you know, seen the same way right by
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  the media, by society. And that's that's a hard truth,
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  you know, we have to face.
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  Speaker 1: That, Yeah for sure. But okay, so that's one side
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  of it. Yeah, but what about us, the ones listening,
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  the ones watching, Like, why are we so into this stuff? Right?
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  Why are we drawn to these stories that are, let's
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  face it, pretty dark.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question, and to be honest, it's
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  one that's been you know, puzzled people for a long time. Yeah,
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  I bet criminologists, psychologists, sociologists like, why are we drawn
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  to this stuff? It seems kind of, I don't know, counterintuitive.
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  You know, we're looking at suffering violence, like the worst
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  of humanity, right, and yet here we are we are.
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  True crime is huge.
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  Speaker 1: It's a phenomenon, it is, and it's not new either.
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  I mean think about it, like back in the day,
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  you had those what they call those penny dreadfuls. Oh yeah,
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  those little like true crime pamphlets used to sell public hangings.
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  Like this stuff has been around forever.
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  Speaker 2: It's true.
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  Speaker 1: It's like it's in our blood or something.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's definitely like a curiosity there, right. We want
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  to understand the world and that includes the bad stuff,
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  right right. And with true crime, it's like we can
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  explore that but from a safe distance.
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  Speaker 1: It's like I'm going to look into the abyss, but
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  I can look away whenever I want exactly exactly.
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  Speaker 2: But it's more than just curiosity too, right, Oh yeah,
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  I mean a lot of times these stories tap into
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  like our deepest fears.
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  Speaker 1: Oh for sure.
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  Speaker 2: When something feels real, you know, yeah, like it could
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  happen to you or someone you love that gets your attention,
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  that's scary. But it also it makes you want to
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  keep watching, doesn't it.
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  Speaker 1: It really does. Yeah. It's like I need to know
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  what happens so it doesn't happen.
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  Speaker 2: To me, right exactly. It's like this weird survival mechanism
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  that makes sense. And then there's the unsolved stuff. Oh yeah,
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  the cases where they never caught the guy or we
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  don't know why they did it. Those those really stick.
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  Speaker 1: With you, they do because there's no ending.
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  Speaker 2: There's no ending. Our brains want closure, you know, right,
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  And when we don't get it. We start coming up
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  with our own theories. You know, it drives us crazy.
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  Speaker 1: It's like when you get to the end of a
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  mystery novel and the last page is just like ripped out.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, you're like, what you need to know? I need
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  to know? And with true crime, it's like this really
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  happened exactly, This wasn't made up. It makes it even
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  worse or I don't know better.
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  Speaker 1: Right right? And that actually that brings us to another
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  thing that's changed the game completely. The Internet.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah for sure. I mean before it was like the news,
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  maybe a couple of TV show, but now it's like
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  a whole other world. It really is podcasts, documentaries, websites,
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  you name it, and the amount of information out there crazy.
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  Speaker 1: It's kind of overwhelming, honestly. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: You've got case files, pictures from crime scenes, you can
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  read what witnesses said, all just at your fingertips.
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  Speaker 1: And people are into it. I mean some of those
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  online groups, they are dedicated, like they spend hours on
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  this stuff, looking at every little detail, coming up with theories.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the citizen detectives. It's actually pretty amazing.
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  Speaker 1: It is.
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  Speaker 2: These are people with regular lives, jobs, families and they're
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  using their free time to try to, you know, solve
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  these cases.
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  Speaker 1: It's wild. And they've actually they've gotten results too, haven't.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, for sure. The Golden State killer case, that's
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  a big one, right, That case went unsolved for decades,
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  and then you had all these people online on Reddit,
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  those forums putting in work, yeah, comparing notes, looking at
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  old evidence, even using that new genealogical stuff, and they
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  helped crack the case.
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  Speaker 1: It's incredible. But I also feel like there's some downsides.
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  Speaker 2: To all this, right, absolutely, Like anything else, it's a
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  double edged sword.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so what do we have to be careful of?
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  Speaker 2: Well, the biggest one is probably misinformation.
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  Speaker 1: Makes sense. With so much out there, right.
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  Speaker 2: With everyone sharing everything, it's really easy for rumors to
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  spread or like even just wrong information. Oh yeah, and
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  that can hurt an investigation, you know, it can mislead people.
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  It's just a mess.
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  Speaker 1: It's like that game Telephone, Yes exactly, it starts one
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  way and then totally different, totally different.
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  Speaker 2: But the thing is, with true crime, it's not.
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  Speaker 1: Just a game, right, Oh no, not at all.
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  Speaker 2: Like real people get hurt, the victims, their families, even
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  the suspects. They can be affected by this stuff.
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  Speaker 1: That's true, and I feel like we've seen how bad
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  online harassment can get too. Oh.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's awful.
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  Speaker 1: Someone's named is a suspect, and even if they haven't
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  been charged.
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  Speaker 2: With anything, right, even before they had a chance to
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  defend themselves, it's like.
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  Speaker 1: They're already being tried in the court of public opinion,
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  out of control.
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  Speaker 2: And it just shows why we have to be careful,
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  you know, we have to engage with this stuff responsibly.
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  Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, like you said earlier,
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  this isn't just entertainment exactly. These are real stories, real.
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  Speaker 2: People, real lives. We can't forget that.
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  Speaker 1: So as we're wrapping up here, what are some of
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  the big things you hope people take away from this?
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  What have we learned?
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  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is just being aware.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: The more we understand why some cases become huge and
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  some don't, you know, about media bias, social factors, how
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  our own minds work, the better we can be about
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  all this.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's about asking those questions, right, like why am
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  I so drawn to this case in particular? Right?
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  Speaker 2: Exactly? Could there be something else going on here? Am
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  I getting the whole story. We have to be a
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  little skeptical.
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  Speaker 1: A little credital thinking never hurts, right never hurts.
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  Speaker 2: But also, you know, we can still enjoy true crime.
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  It's a fascinating it's interesting, but we have to do
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  it ethically. We have to use our voices to make
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  sure everyone gets justice, not just the cases that make
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  the news or fit a certain narrative.
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  Speaker 1: That's a really good point. This has been I don't
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  know about you, but this has really got me thinking.
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  So listeners, next time you're sucked into a case, remember
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  what we talked about, look a little deeper, ask some
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  questions exactly because everyone deserves justice.
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  Speaker 2: And that's it for our deep time today. We'll see
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  you next time.