The New True Crime - (Alternative Criminology) by Diana Rickard (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The New True Crime: How the Rise of Serialized Storytelling Is Transforming Innocence looks at how criminal justice and popular culture intersect in true crime documentaries about wrongful conviction, and what they tell us about how truth and innocence are constructed across media"--

Book Synopsis

How serialized crime shows became an American obsession

TV shows and podcasts like Making a Murderer, Serial, and Atlanta Monster have taken the cultural zeitgeist by storm, and contributed to the release of wrongly imprisoned people--such as Adnan Syed. The popularity of these long-form true crime docuseries has sparked greater attention to issues of inequality, power, social class, and structural racism. More and more, the American public is asking, Who is and is not deserving of punishment, and who is and is not protected by the law? In The New True Crime, Diana Rickard argues that these new true crime series deserve our attention for what they reveal about our societal understanding of crime and punishment, and for the new light they shine on the inequalities of the criminal justice system. Questioning the finality of verdicts, framing facts as in the eye of the beholder--these new series unmoor our faith in what is knowable, even as, Rickard critically notes, they often blur the lines between "fact" and "fiction."

With a focus on some of the most popular true crime podcasts and streaming series of the last decade, Rickard provides an in-depth analysis of the ways in which this new media--which allows for binge-listening or watching--makes crime into a public spectacle and conveys ideological messages about punishment to its audience. Entertainment values have always been entwined with crime news reporting. Newsworthy stories, Rickard reminds us, need to involve sex, violence, or a famous person, and contain events that can be framed in terms of individualism and conservative ideologies about crime. Even as these old tropes of innocent victims and deviant bad guys still dominate these docuseries, Rickard also unpacks how the new true crime has been influenced by the innocence movement, a diverse group of organizers and activists, be they journalists, lawyers, formerly incarcerated people, or family members, who now have a place in mainstream consciousness as DNA evidence exonerates the wrongly convicted.

The New True Crime questions the knowability of truth and probes our anxieties about the "real" nature of true crime media. For fans of true crime shows and anyone concerned about justice in America, this book will prove to be essential reading.

Review Quotes

"Rickard's book is the first to look exclusively at popular media representations of wrongful convictions, at their socio-political importance, and at the broader philosophical questions raised by the growth of this genre. It is an important contribution to the study of crime and media and should be of interest to a broader public of ravenous consumers of that genre."-- "Contemporary Sociology"

"True crime has long been a fixture in popular culture. Recently, wrongful convictions have captivated the general public and permeated that space. In The New True Crime, Diana Rickard skillfully analyzes this contemporary trend in true crime media. Rickard offers a fresh and exciting new take on wrongful convictions in the era of binge-watching. The New True Crime is a must-read."-- "Robert J. Norris, co-author of The Politics of Innocence: How Wrongful Convictions Shape Public Opinion"

"The heart of the book is [Rickard's] analysis of the New True's unique characteristics, contributions, potentials, and limits. A key strength of the work is that its insights are grounded within the larger sociocultural and political contexts that influence the operations of the criminal justice system."-- "Hedgehogs and Foxes"

"A fascinating and insightful study of how the previously unstudied True Crime genre unfolds as both binge-worthy and sociologically revealing. Rickard taps eight controversial cases that blur boundaries between crime news and entertainment, draw us into complex assessments of guilt or innocence, and affect whether criminal justice reform efforts are likely to succeed."-- "Lynn S. Chancer, author of High Profile Crimes: When Legal Cases Become Social Causes"

"Can tropes of innocence and wrongful convictions battle the evil of 'true crime crazy'? Can the culture that follows them be mobilized for the transformation of justice? Rickard records with laser-like focus the elements of obsessive popular and media focus that shape perceptions and, consequently, realities of crime and punishment in the US."-- "Michelle Brown, co-author of Criminology Goes to the Movies: Crime Theory and Popular Culture"

About the Author

Diana Rickard is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, Human Services, and Criminal Justice at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. She is the author of Sex Offenders, Stigma, and Social Control.