The ethics of true crime podcasts

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[00:00:30] Avoid the tabloid-style headlines and reporting. Don't sensationalise, and this includes your title. If you are sitting in front of the family of a crime you've covered, could you defend what you have said? Helping us uncover the cold hard facts this week is Adam Lloyd, host of the UK True Crime Podcast. I'm Damien St John, he's Ant McGinley, and this is The Podcast Advice Show, your go-to place for the latest tips and takeaways.

[00:01:01] This episode is called The Ethics of True Crime Podcasts. Are you a true crime podcast fan, Ant? No, I find them too difficult to listen to. I'm very sensitive and emotional, and I don't like it. Here's a fair answer. True crime podcasting has exploded in popularity over recent years, but with this growth comes ethical questions about how independent creators handle sensitive stories. Where's the line between informing the public and exploiting tragedy?

[00:01:28] Today we're examining the moral responsibilities of true crime podcasters. Do you think anyone can just start a true crime podcast? So practically anybody can. There are rules around reporting. They differ from different countries. Here in the UK, once somebody's been arrested, you cannot talk about it. Otherwise, you're in risk of being in contempt of court. Now, if you work for a media organization, you've had that training and you know that.

[00:01:57] If you're just making a podcast, you may not be up to speed on these rules. So you can do it, but you will be breaking the law and you risk prosecution, which I'm sure not everybody wants to do. Now, on the other side of things, as we've seen with the most famous being serial, miscarriage of justice solved by this podcast, or at least this podcast shone a light onto it and moved it. So I think that's a great thing. Morally, that's not going to be the same in every single case.

[00:02:26] There is a book if you're interested, and that's a good point. The Podcaster's Guide to the Law, written by the late, great radio legend, Paul Chandler. So my advice is actually, if you are thinking about doing a true crime podcast, go and seek out this book or a similar book just to Ant's point to get yourself familiar with the laws.

[00:02:45] We talked in a previous episode about the power of transcripts, but actually all somebody needs to do is search for something on the internet and your transcript will pop up and then it will go to a lawyer and that lawyer will send you a really heavy letter and you could find yourself in absolute deep poo. Yeah. And I think what's important to differentiate between is there are different types of cases and crimes, and I think really they fall into two broad categories.

[00:03:14] Those are ones that haven't been resolved, so that maybe there's an ongoing investigation or it's what they call a cold case, or it's a historical case. So you're going back 10, 20 years, maybe 100 years, where it's heavily documented and other people have investigated it as well.

[00:03:30] Now, I think podcasts are the perfect format for true crime because you can go into so much more depth and explore all these different avenues that you couldn't possibly do in a, you know, even a 30 minute documentary on TV. You couldn't cover as much. The fact that you've got the ability to sort of pivot, to do investigations, to overlook material, to ask for witnesses to come forward, all these different opportunities.

[00:03:58] I mean, podcasting is a great environment to do that kind of investigation. However, you do have to be sensitive to a few things and cautious about some other things. All right. What does our guest think this week on the podcast advice show? Adam Lloyd is the host of the UK True Crime Podcast. Adam, on the answering machine this week, thank you for joining us. At what point does covering a true crime case cross the line from public interest journalism to exploitation of victims?

[00:04:31] Hello, I'm Adam. I'm host of the UK True Crime Podcast. As I record this in March 2025, I've released almost 520 episodes of my podcast since 2016. So I have an idea of the ethics of true crime podcasts. However, and it is a big however, I should say that lots of others will disagree with me, almost everything I say. But look, here are my authentic views to the questions, okay?

[00:04:58] There's always been an interest in true crime for hundreds of years. Look at the cues that formed for public executions. In general, though, the rules are pretty simple to me. If you're covering, let's say, a murder, remember that this is the worst possible date ever for family and friends of those involved. So don't be a jerk. Avoid the tabloid style headlines and reporting. Don't sensationalise. And this includes your title.

[00:05:27] None of this severed head on the beach nonsense. Clickbait like that. It just isn't cool, okay? Just stick to the facts and always consider, if you were sitting in front of the family of a crime you've covered, could you defend what you have said? It's always been in our society, this telling of tragedy. But actually, that's a good question. Why is it of interest generally to promote? I can see why you would do the journalism,

[00:05:56] but only if you're then trying to do what Serial did, which is help solve a mother. Otherwise, it's just murder noise. People like to know that bad people aren't going to be a threat to them and that justice takes care of them. And if somebody hasn't solved it, they like to think that they might be able to solve it as well. And actually, in some cases, that can happen. There's a really great example of this. It was a joint production by BBC and NRK, Death in Ice Valley.

[00:06:25] And that was a cold case. And basically, a body had been found and literally cold case, frozen in the snow. And this is many years ago. And there was no identification on that body. There was no papers. When they found the room that they'd been staying in, there was nothing there, nothing on their clothes, nothing that enabled them to be identified. And then they put that show out as a joint production on the BBC and as a podcast and on NRK in Norway. And they also had a social media presence with it

[00:06:54] where people could submit things that they thought might be relevant if they recognized the people and the documents that they did get. Did this mean anything? And so there's a real opportunity for people to get involved and for something to happen and to gain more information. However, there's a difference between that and just having an opinion. And that is an interesting prospect. Because say you created a podcast in the US about a UK crime,

[00:07:24] you might be producing it under US laws, but could there be a case to answer, literally a case to answer? Because podcasting doesn't have any geographical barriers. So if somebody took it to a British court, it would then be under British laws. So there's a show called To Live and Die in LA, which is hosted by Neil Strauss. And I saw him give a talk about this at Podcast Movement a couple of years ago.

[00:07:50] And he talked about the challenge that he gets from a lot of people, that you're disrupting the police investigation. He gave an example of a case they were working on, because they were kind of real-time missing, people that had been gone missing in the last year. And he gave an example of how this person's computer and mobile phone was given to the police to aid them in their investigation. And several months later, the family received a phone call from the police department asking for the password.

[00:08:21] So his argument was, that's been sitting there in an evidence locker for several months. And during this time, we could have gone through that. We could have been looking through this. We could have actually, you know, simply, and he says, it's not about the police not being good at their job. It's about resources and time. And as podcasters, that's the thing that you have. Then the law should hire a bunch of true crime podcasters to work behind the scenes to solve this stuff, because a lot of them are very good at it.

[00:08:51] They've got the time and the energy to put into it. They're not bogged down by politics or paperwork necessarily, sort of internal issues or targets. They're just really good at sniffing out one story. Let's get more from our guests this week on the podcast advice show, Adam Lloyd from the UK True Crime Podcast. Adam, do you think independent true crime podcasters have a responsibility to contact victims' families before covering their cases?

[00:09:21] There is very split opinion in the true crime community on this. Some say absolutely yes. I totally disagree. Look, when cases are covered in papers and online, does every single media organisation contact their families? The answer's no. If the information is out there in the public through the media, court records, and other documents, I don't think we have a responsibility to contact families.

[00:09:48] On the other hand, if I was given a document or information by a source that wasn't publicly available, I then absolutely think I do have a responsibility to contact the family because it would be new information. Time for a break on the podcast advice show. This week we're talking UK true crime, as you know. Back with more from our guest, Adam Lloyd, in a bit.

[00:10:17] And we're back on the podcast advice show. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, all about true crime, the ins and the outs and the where's and the why for's and how to stay on the right side of the law. I'm Damien. He's Ant. Let's do another question with our guest this week, Adam Lloyd from the UK True Crime Podcast. Adam, how can independent podcasters that don't have journo backgrounds ensure they're reporting on cases both ethically and accurately? How could any media outlet

[00:10:46] look at the state of journalism across the world, particularly in the UK? It's at a real low point and it's dying. Your reputation as a podcaster is all about how you report cases accurately and ethically. Check all your facts. Don't add your own assumptions to the story and always, always, always put the victims first. And again, avoid all that tabloid speak. Nobody should be using words like prostitutes in 2025.

[00:11:15] Sex workers carry out a job for money like lawyers, MPs or anyone else. And don't use outdated terms like ripper. Please, please, please, if you think using ripper is okay, then trust me, hosting a true crime podcast, it isn't for you. Do you know what I struggle with is the fact that when you mentioned the cold case, the literal cold case of somebody being found frozen,

[00:11:43] that when you say that as a piece of content on Netflix or Apple podcast, there are people that go, oh, great, I'm going to get stuck in. And it's consumed as entertainment, like somebody's death is consumed as disposable entertainment. We don't have them on in our house. We watch detective shows like Unforgotten and things like that. And they're things that happened 20, 30 years ago

[00:12:12] and new evidence comes to light or whatever. But yeah, I don't know. I can't binge a true crime. I did try and do serial for a while. I listened to that and I was quite invested in that. But I couldn't get my head around listening to that all the time. Yeah. And people love the thought that they might be able to have an input or to, you know, that by listening to this, that they'll uncover something that maybe was missed before. I suppose you can look at it as a documentary,

[00:12:41] a real life documentary and documentary culture has always been part of our psyche. Is it ethical to monetize content that centers on others' tragedies? Like saying, to hear the full story, go behind the paywall. We've gone then away from public interest, journalism, and maybe more financial exploitation of the victims who are no longer here. True crime podcasts can be a very lucrative market.

[00:13:11] They can make a lot of money. I've met the guy behind Sword and Scale, which had a huge amount of Patreon subscribers as well as doing very well in the charts as well for its podcast. Going back to what I was saying when I worked on Crime Watch, that show, it was designed for helping the police when they got to a point in their case where they couldn't solve it. It was slightly different. They would come to the BBC and say, can you help us with this? And they would go, okay, we'll do a reconstruction.

[00:13:40] We'll appeal for witnesses. We'll use the mass media to get out and do that. But that's still an entertainment product. I mean, as far as broadcast TV goes, you mentioned Crime Watch quite a lot. ITV had Police 5. Do you ever remember that? Growing up with Shaw Taylor? Keep Appeal. So they would have run crime solving content on a commercial network. But that's different. It's in the public interest to say police are appealing for a man that looks like this

[00:14:10] or a woman that looks like that and was in this time and this location. That's in the public interest. But again, something that is not wholly impactful in today's life, there's a question there whether you should be able to monetize that or whether the families actually have any legal recourse. Like, it is a tragedy. It is a bad thing that happened. It is part of the world. It's going to be in the news. What's the difference of putting it in a podcast? Let's find out from Adam Lloyd, host of the UK

[00:14:39] True Crime Podcast, what he thinks. Is it ethical to monetize content that centers on others' tragedies, especially when you have no connection to the case? Why not? Let's go again to newspapers who cover cases. Their journalists get paid for stories when they have no connection to the case from the adverts carried by these papers. Is this ethical for them? Does anybody ask? What about the BBC

[00:15:08] or other TV outlets? Do you think that their news teams cover stories for free, unpaid? Of course they don't. Look, the bottom line is you are covering human interest stories and especially since the internet, many of us realize that we're not alone in enjoying true crime. Yep, I use that word enjoying that so many will shy away from. It is for us a form of entertainment too. But look, let me emphasize again,

[00:15:37] it must be handled in the right way sensitively or it's no longer entertainment or enjoyable but exploitation. These are fine lines. Every single time you record a new episode, you must be aware of us. And I think that really is the art and the skill of journalism and storytelling. How you balance creating, engaging content with respecting the dignity of victims and their families. Even on the

[00:16:06] Titanic movie, they say, oh, my great-great-grandfather never said that or he never wore those clothes or he never would have behaved that way. There's still what they call inaccuracies. My view would be think about the dignity in this story and how you get that right. That's just made me think of a brilliant example of this and a friend of ours, Dan Maudsley from the BBC, he won a gold British Podcast

[00:16:36] award for his show Paradise. And what, the reason why that jumps to mind is it's not just a true crime podcast, it was that there was a story behind it, there was a reason to it, and that was that they knew these people had been killed, but they'd never been able to find the graves of where these people had been buried because this had happened in like the late 70s, early 80s, if I remember rightly. So Dan was on a journey to see, one, if he could actually interview the person

[00:17:06] responsible for it, who was believed to be responsible, who had confessed to his own children, but never been charged, but also to see if he could find, based on the stories and reports that they had, where it was. And on that podcast, you hear, with a relative of the victims, them walking through this graveyard that they'd been led to, without meaning to give it away, but they find the grave. And that's a very powerful and emotional

[00:17:36] moment. The podcast is not just going, oh, there's been a murder, this is exciting, isn't it gruesome, isn't it horrible, this happened. It's actually genuinely going, these are real people, these are real things that happened, they were horrible, but we're going to give some closure by trying to find out where they are. If you want to start getting into true crime, I think possibly the best way to do it is to go with the historical because you avoid all of these issues. You know, if you're going back 50, 60 years, one, you're avoiding all the issues of upsetting people that really, but secondly,

[00:18:06] there's already a heap of information out there. There's a heap of other podcasts, there'll be books, there'll be experts, people that you can talk about. So you've got a lot of content for your show already. Final question from our guest this week, host of the UK True Crime Podcast, it's Adam Lloyd. Adam, one for you specifically, how do you balance creating engaging content with respect to the dignity of victims and their families? Let me say it straight,

[00:18:35] don't act like a dick like Hollywood does sometimes. For example, Zac Efron playing that monster Ted Bundy in the 2019 film, a Hollywood heartthrob playing one of the most evil men to walk the earth. Shocking. But except for obvious things like that. Look, you focus on the victim in your story always. Make them a real person to your audience. You don't victim blame

[00:19:05] ever. If you have an opinion on this, just keep it to yourself. And then back to where we started. I promise you, you will get contacted by families involved in any story that you cover. You have to be able to sit down with them and be able to justify how you've covered the worst thing that has ever happened to them. Can you do that? Does your podcast stand up to that scrutiny?

[00:19:36] Our gratitude to Adam Lloyd for joining us this week on the podcast advice show. You can find out more about Adam's podcast. We've mentioned it lots of times. It's UK True Crime. You can search for it where you get your podcasts or go to UK true crime.com. Would you like a true crime quiz? Oh, is it? Did you do it? Probably. It's called True Crime or False Crime. Okay.

[00:20:05] Five questions on true crime podcasts. All you need to do is say true or false. Are you ready? Here we go. True or false serial season one focused on the case of Adnan Saeed who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend. That crime did happen. He didn't do it. But that's true. That series was about that. True. It is true. Season one did focus on Adnan Saeed's case. Question number two. True or false? All true crime podcasts are scripted and use professional actors to

[00:20:35] recreate crime scenes. I wish because then I would get a lot more voice work. False. It is correct. While some podcasts do use sound design and reenactments, many are primarily narrative storytelling or interviews and most don't use professional actors. That's not to say the actors aren't professional. They just don't use actors. Question three. True crime or false crime? My favourite murder is known for its light-hearted approach to discussing true crime, often incorporating humour.

[00:21:06] True. Is true, yes. My favourite murder is famous for its Murderino fan base and its blend of true crime and comedy. There is scope to be had. Question four. True or false? False. Many true crime podcasts have played a role in reopening or influencing outcomes of real-life criminal cases. Well, I don't know if it's many, but I know of at least a few that have, so I'm going to say true. I'm going to say true. Yes, true is correct. Podcasts like In the Dark and Serial have brought attention

[00:21:34] to cases, leading new investigations and even overturned convictions. And finally, true crime or false crime? The podcast Fruminal exclusively covers unsolved murder cases. Don't Google it. Oh, God. You were Googling it there. I can see you. I'll say true. It's false. Criminal covers a wide range of crimes, not just unsolved murders, and often explores the psychology of criminals and victims.

[00:22:04] That was true crime or false crime, and you scored some points. I think four. I want to say four. So can I throw something out there as well? If you're not a true crime podcaster, you can take that format and still use it for entertainment purposes or others. Two brilliant examples of this are the Walker's Switch, where they investigate whether or not cheese and onion and salt and vinegar were different colours at one point or another, which a

[00:22:34] lot of people remember that they were. And the other one has been riding high on the charts recently, is the excellent Who Shat on the Floor at My Wedding? Both those shows use the same techniques that you'll hear in true crime podcasts. Just to spin off from this slightly from podcasting, is a TV show about a podcast, if you've not seen it before, Onlyjoders in the Building, with Steve Martin. Very good. So there is a lot of fun and creativity to be

[00:23:03] had with the world of crime and more specifically murder, but the ethical landscape of true crime podcasting remains complex. While there's no perfect formula, the most respected creators, prioritise accuracy, sensitivity and respect for victims. And as independent podcasters, it is our responsibility to do thoughtful storytelling that informs without exploiting, balancing compelling content with the human dignity those involved deserve. If you've enjoyed the podcast advice

[00:23:33] show, then you can buy us a coffee. Go to the link in our show description or episode description and throw us some money and we can treat ourselves to a hot drink the next time we hang out together in person. Helps keep the show going. It's a really nice way to support indie podcasting. You can also visit our website for loads more articles and advice and send in questions if you've got a topic or a burning question you'd like us to ask an industry expert. You can do that at getpodcastadvice.com. I have a question. How much cyanide

[00:24:03] can you put in someone's coffee before it becomes detectable? Until next time, I'm Damien, he's Ants and remember get murdering. Keep murdering. No, keep podcasting. Shout out. This podcast is part of Podomity, the UK's podcast comedy network. Why not laugh at what else we've got?

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