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8.
AOTW: How do you answer claims that true-crime books do nothing but sensationalize and bring what might be otherwise strictly local crimes into the national spotlight? Or that true crime writers are insensitive to the plight of the families of both the criminal(s) and the victim(s)?
Susan Kelly: How do I answer claims that true crime books do nothing but sensationalize crimes? No one's asked me that till now, but if someone had, I'd simply say that I don't think there's anything you can't write about as long as you do it with brains and taste. Murder is a cosmic issue anyway. What's more elemental than life and the taking of life?
Gretchen Brinck: As in any other genre, the quality of true crime writing varies. Some is mainly sensational, some is intelligent and thorough nonfiction and presents a social theme, like Our Boys, for example. The criminal generally makes more exciting reading than victims, so some writers may appear to slight the victim. However, the famous true crime writer Ann Rule is a victims’ rights advocate, and Jack Olsen portrays victims and survivors with as much depth and humanity as the criminals in his books. I tried to do the same in The Boy Next Door.
Michael Fleeman: I prefer the word interesting. Obviously, people don't want to read about boring crimes. As for nationalizing a local story, I have no problem with that. Sometimes the more local it is --- small town crimes, etc. --- the more we learn about humanity, the more true it is.
Brian J. Karem: I usually don't answer those claims as I am too busy giving the accuser the Raspberry. But for the sake of interest, I will say that we write about human misadventures to which a large enough group is interested that a publisher can make money selling that audience a book about the crime. As for the insensitive accusation that crime writers are insensitive, I say I can only speak to my own experience and I've had no complaints of that from either victims or criminals --- even if some no good criminal deserved it.
Burl Barer: Those claims are true, except for the “nothing but.” I’m sure true-crime books do something else as well, although I can’t think of what it might be at the moment. In truth, true crime books save lives --- plain and simple. No one is better prepared to spot a potential serial sex killer murdering rapist psychopath than a true crime reader. No reader of true crime will ever be so stupid as to fall in love with someone who’s two favorite hobbies are lighting fires and torturing animals.
Insensitive? Says who? Tell me their name and phone number and I’ll call ‘em up, collect of course; we true crime writers don’t make enough money to pay long distance rates. That’s nonsense. We are, by nature of being true crime writers, almost overly sensitive to the plight of the families of both criminals and victims. It is a prerequisite of the job. It’s an on-the-job description. “Must be sensitive, caring, compassionate, enjoy long walks on the beach, and quiet evenings by a roaring fire that is not the result of arson.”
Don Lasseter: True crime books are generally published long after news media coverage has drained every bit of sensationalism out of the case. Local cases, if they have any unusual twists or interesting angle, are covered nationally on news channels, so they are no longer really local stories. The T/C book, then, offers more insight into the events, digging deeper than sensational news coverage did. Regarding sensitivity to victim's families, that's one of the things I make a strong effort to do; portray the victims as real people who had hopes, dreams, plans, and good lives. I want the reader to feel as if they knew the victims, and understand with the families how tragic it was to lose them.
Irene Pence: Some of my books have already been in the national spotlight. I see nothing negative in bringing a local crime to national attention. I am not insensitive to the families of the victims or criminals. I am very careful to change names in order to give family members privacy. The family of the victim in A Clue from the Grave sought me out to write the story because they wanted the public to know what their daughter/sister had gone through and are trying to keep the murderer in prison as long as possible.
Sue Russell: If a crime is sensational, the news media will propel it into the spotlight. I don't think most books sensationalize crimes. As for being insensitive to the families of the criminals and the victims --- not so. Some criminals' family members warrant great sensitivity and get it. I am extremely sensitive to the feelings of innocent family members. Aileen Wuornos's aunt --- who was raised as her sister - was utterly devastated by her crimes and I was very affected by her slice of the story. If the family member has contributed to the criminal behavior by abuse or neglect, that's different, of course.
Sharon Tate's late mother, Doris, was a friend of mine. Doris couldn't talk about Sharon's murder for twelve whole years. Through her, I learned about the true depth of the pain endured by victims' families. My Wuornos book helps some family members. When the press reduced Aileen's victims to a group of johns who had picked up a hooker, it was terribly painful for their loved ones. At least a couple of her victims were likely good samaritans stopping to help her. She'd show a fake family photograph, say her car had broken down and ask for a ride. I make this distinction; the press didn't. Some family members are extremely grateful to have the truth spelled out.
Robert Scott: This used to bother me at first. The way around it was always to portray the good aspects of a victim's life. Depict how their friends and family loved them. But the most rewarding part of the investigation would be when some police officer who had worked long hours on the case would tell me, "Thank you for telling our story." I try to detail all the legwork and frustrations they go through to solve a case. The emotional impact it takes on them. As FBI Agent Jeff Rinek said to Thomas Soria Junior, "For me to sit here and talk to you this way and the things we're going to get into, it takes a lot out of me. It will take me weeks to recover."
I once had a job that put me in contact with several Viet Nam veterans. I saw that for some of them the war had never really ended. The same goes for some law enforcement officers as well. The "war" is with them everyday out on the mean streets. Just look at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. There are more than 15,000 names on it of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. Their stories need to be told.
Dina Temple-Raston: Personally, I'm particularly sensitive to this issue: I was a reporter in mainland China in the 1980s and Chinese authorities would often round up people who were named in foreign newspaper stories. It's a fine line we have to walk as authors. At what point are we telling more than we need to? What is essential to the story and what is gratuitous? The Byrd family, for example, didn't want James Byrd's prison record to be publicized. But I thought that was important because it was a key reason why the black community in Jasper didn't want to build a memorial in James Byrd's memory. Though he was killed in an awful way, the black community didn't want their children looking up to him. I cite some things without attributing them because attaching a name would have created problems for certain citizens --- too much heartache.
Carlton Stowers: The true crime writer who does not consider the feelings of victims and their families, even the family of the criminal, as he/she writes is doing the genre a great disservice.
Carlton Smith: Here’s the excerpt from my book, Shadows of Evil, that addresses some of the issues you raise.
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