True crime is getting another skewering in a most respected media outlet. Deserved?
National Public Radio's outgoing ombudsman declared that NPR shouldn't have broadcast portions of the graphic in-court confessions of "BTK," Dennis Rader, the Kansas serial killer who all-but-surrendered in 2005 after years of eluding law enforcement.
Said the ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, in a column about National Public Radio's coverage of the killer's confession: Many readers were shocked and appalled, calling the story "tabloid" and "exploitive to the point of being pornographic."
Dvorkin goes on:
"Crime is not often covered by NPR. This is because crime, the staple of tabloids and local television news everywhere, does not carry much journalistic weight. This is a good thing, in my opinion, since there are often consequences -- and not good ones -- whenever the media engages in too much crime reporting...."
"At NPR, crime reporting occurs only when a specific crime reaches such a level of noteworthiness that it is part of the national conversation in offices and coffee shops. As such it is worthy of reporting."
" ... the "Serial Murder 101" approach -- the courtroom confessions of a cold-blooded killer -- was not in line with NPR's usual, thoughtful approach to crime reporting."
And yet, Dvorkin adds, "...crime always attracts an audience."
Dvorkin was interviewed this weekend on NPR's "On the Media" show and added that he thought crime news is only relevant when it "says something about our society." He also said that crime reporting "has gone up a thousand percent in recent years."
Compared to when? I laugh.
I wish I could go on... I've got mixed opinions of these curious assessments,...
But I'm the hostess of Aunt Laura's Summer Camp for the next few days, and I have the care of six children, and a new appreciation for the old-fashioned saying about Mouths to Feed..... On hiatus 'til mid-week.
****
I start every book with the idea that I want to explain how this seven or eight pounds of protoplasm went from his mommy's arms to become a serial rapist or serial killer. This is my drive and my compulsion. I think a crime book that doesn't do this is pure pornography.
--Jack Olsen
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