Content Warning: domestic violence, murder, and missing persons.

 Dr. Kelli Boling and Dr. Danielle Slakoff join us today to discuss their impactful research about the creation and consumption of true crime media. They both bring years of experience and expertise to their work in hopes of inspiring true crime to be a more equitable healing space for victims and co-victims. The Broken Cycle Media team has long admired their work and is honored they would join us to talk about their research discoveries and how we can all work to improve the genre for those at the center of crime.

Dr. Kelli Boling: https://kelliboling.com/

Dr. Danielle Slakoff: https://daniellecslakoff.weebly.com/

Sources: 

Boling, Kelli S.. ““It’s that ‘There but for the Grace of God Go I’ Piece of It”: Domestic Violence Survivors in True Crime Podcast Audiences.” Mass Communication and Society 26 (2022): 991 - 1013. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/%E2%80%9CIt%E2%80%99s-that-%E2%80%98There-but-for-the-Grace-of-God-Go-I%E2%80%99-of-Boling/f938790522bc62fa985351bc951e3ce0e3ded9ac

Boling, Kelli S. “True Crime Podcasting: Journalism, Justice or Entertainment?” Radio Journal:International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, Intellect, 1 Oct. 2019, intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/rjao_00003_1#cited

Boling, K. S., & Hull, K. (2018). Undisclosed Information—Serial Is My Favorite Murder: Examining Motivations in the True Crime Podcast Audience. Journal of Radio & Audio Media, 25(1), 92–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376529.2017.1370714

Boling, K. S., & Slakoff, D. C. (2025). “What an invasion, an immense invasion”: Examining the adverse effects of true crime media on co-victims. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/17416590251371618

Slakoff, Danielle C., and Kelli S. Boling. 2025. “‘Media Pressure Is What Makes Law Enforcement Move’: Insights from Co-Victims About the Positive Impacts of True Crime Media Attention.” Mass Communication and Society, August, 1–17. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15205436.2025.2549719

Slakoff, D.C., Boling, K.S. & Tadros, E. “I just couldn’t cope with it, you know? I just couldn’t believe that she was gone”: The Portrayal of Co-victims’ Grief in True Crime Podcasts about Missing (but Presumed Killed) Women. J Fam Viol 39, 303–313 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-022-00471-w

Slakoff, D. C., & Brennan, P. K. (2017). The Differential Representation of Latina and Black Female Victims in Front-Page News Stories: A Qualitative Document Analysis. Feminist Criminology, 14(4), 488-516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085117747031 (Original work published 2019)

“True Crime Obsession: Sleuths, Streamers, and Serial Killers.” YouTube, Vice News, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsO_iynpH1E

For a list of additional resources and related non-profit organizations, please visit http://www.somethingwaswrong.com/resources

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