Do Serial Killers Have an Impact on the US Media
Serial killers have a significant impact on the U.S. media. People are obsessed and intrigued with murder and mayhem, especially when it comes down to serial killers. They thrive on the information about them. The media uses serial killers to bring attention to them and to bring viewers to their stations.
The media gives as much information to the public about serial killers as they can. They get their information from witnesses, investigators, and statistical records. Unfortunately, the media tends to exaggerate their information, causing the public to become worried, yet still intrigued. The more gore in a story, the better the numbers of viewers. This does not help with investigations of serial killers because too much information is being exposed, and it is not always correct.
When a serial killer “strikes,” the media does all it can to get as much information as possible. They show up at the crime scene, making the investigators’ work even harder than it already is. They also give information to the public that should not be given out, such as specific details and promises that investigators will solve the serial murders in a timely manner. That is not always the case.
“If it bleeds, it leads,” is a motto used by the media. The more heinous the crime, the more coverage each news station will give toward the crime, victims, and suspects. Society is fascinated with the lifestyle of serial killers, as well as the crimes themselves. At the same time, they are also terrified. The media should be telling the public very little information, but should give a lot of information about protecting yourself and avoiding becoming the victim of a serial killer. In actuality, it works the opposite way.
Serial killers often times have movies made about them. The only way this can happen is if the serial murders were significant and were flashed all over the media for long periods of time. If it soaks enough of the viewers’ attention, and they want more, then the media will provide it through movies, documentaries, and even books. Ann Rule is a famous author who writes many true crime stories, including a biography of Ted Bundy. I find her work to be the most reliable and correctly detailed that I have read. She gets to the point, states her opinions as that, but sticks mainly to the correct facts. She would not be such a well-known and successful writer if she did not write accurately and maintain the audience’s attention. She got many of her stories from the media and the police. That is how she decides what to write, with the exception of a woman who asked her to write about her death even before she died. (Rule, 2006)
Serial killers are a great form of “bait” for the media. If they advertise that they will have updates on serial murders, the public is going to tune it and the ratings are going to go up. The more gruesome the story, the higher the ratings will be. As morbid as it may seem, the public and the media thrive on serial killers even though the killers are taking many lives and destroying them. (Egger, 1998 page 102)
Many of the serial killers will actually anonymously send tips and hints to the media and the police in hopes that they will be featured on the news again. They thrive on the attention that the media brings them and feels that they are a step ahead of the “game” by remaining among civilians and not being caught. The more details the media releases to the public, the longer and harder the investigation becomes.
Investigators purposely try to leave some of the details of the murders and investigations out of the eye of the public because it narrows down witnesses. If a person sees information on the news, they can easily call in and say that they are witnesses, give false information, and the police will have to follow up on those leads. The less information, the better the chances are of having witnesses come forward. However, if the information is about a suspect, the more information released, the better the chances are of a witness coming forward. To validate that the witness did indeed see the suspect or have contact with the suspect, questions are asked and the witness is interviewed to see if any of the information they have matches any of the information that was not given to the public by the media. This narrows down suspects and eliminates information that is incorrect to avoid having to investigate further if the witness gives false information.
In summary, the serial killer is the person who keeps the public watching and listening to the media. Without serial killers, the media would not have as many top stories to keep the audience interested and ratings could go down. It is like a race for the media to get the most information as possible regarding serial killers. Their ratings and the future of their network relies on this.
References
Egger, Stephen (1998). The Killers Among Us. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc..
Rule, Ann (2006), from Ann Rule’s Official Homepage Web site: http://www.annrules.com
