True crime podcasts have exploded in popularity in recent years, raising many questions about how they affect crime victims, the court system, journalism and social perceptions. A Nebraska researcher is studying the genre with an eye toward establishing best practices.
Bio
Kelli Boling has extensively researched the true crime podcast industry, particularly how podcasts affect listeners who have experienced domestic violence. Her research has been cited in TIME magazine, the Washington Post and Scripps News. She focuses on the lived reality of media audiences, specifically women, women of color and domestic violence victims. She is interested in how those women are depicted and how they interpret and make meaning from the media they consume. She is interested in whether the podcasts might be healing for victims of domestic violence. Boling has interviewed co-victims of crimes that were covered by popular true crime media to understand how their lives were affected by the podcast and to establish best practices for the genre. Future research may investigate listeners’ perceptions of ethics and whether they perceive differences between podcasts produced by journalists and those produced by non-journalists.
Boling holds a doctorate in journalism and mass communications and a certificate in women and gender studies from the University of South Carolina. She teaches classes in social justice human rights and the media; the monarchy and the media; strategic writing for advertising and public relations and strategy development for advertising and public relations.