University News Last updated 10 December 2015
Criminologists at Birmingham City University have found that online forums are breaking down the traditional barriers between those personally affected by homicide and enthusiasts interested in the cases.
The academics based in the University's Centre for Applied Criminology focused on content posted on popular website Reddit, where secondary victims, in the case made popular by the podcast 'Serial' which explored a 1999 murder, were contributing alongside 'fans' of the programme. 'Secondary victims' is a term used to refer to the friends and relatives of victims and perpetrators – those left behind after a homicide.
The findings, published this week in 'Victims & Offenders', marks the first ever empirical, peer-reviewed criminological research about 'Serial'.
'Serial', a spin-off from the popular US radio documentary series 'This American Life', takes a fresh look at the real-life conviction of Baltimore teenager Adnan Syed. He was convicted of murdering his former girlfriend Hae Min Lee, but has always protested his innocence.
Across 12 episodes, evidence was revisited, witnesses were heard and experts were consulted. 'Serial' even featured interviews via the prison phone with Adnan Syed. Subsequently, in November this year, Syed was granted a hearing to reopen his case – a success that many have attributed partly to the attention the first season of 'Serial' generated.
It was in one of these discussions on Reddit that two secondary victims began posting; Tanveer Syed, the older brother of Adnan, and Young Lee, the younger brother of Hae. Both men presented narratives in their posts on Reddit that either reinforced, challenged or expanded upon 'Serial’s' representation of the story.
The academics found that traditional press and broadcast journalists are often keen to engage with secondary victims of homicide – mainly to create highly charged emotive content and powerful visual images of the stories. However, the new research argues that newer user-generated media – like Reddit – allow those affected by homicide to express alternative narratives to those already interested in the case, with first-hand experience fuelling the curiosity of the armchair detectives.
The research also stipulates that newer media, such as online forums, may appeal to secondary victims because their comments are not subject to the same degree of editorial intervention as they may be in a traditional interview with a journalist. Furthermore, they can decide when to revise or amend content before posting, as well as deciding whether to respond to questions or not, giving secondary victims more control.
However, whilst there is a considerable degree of regulation around the traditional press and broadcast media, the same cannot be said for social media or online forums, which often sit outside these boundaries.
Dr Yardley, who led the research, added: "Murders, unsolved murders and missing people cases are very popular topics in online discussion forums – and whilst it’s clear that many people want to help solve the case or offer a theory others are downright vicious in their treatment of those personally affected by them. The Maura Murray case for example has attracted considerable vitriol. We need to understand more about secondary victims’ experiences in newer media spaces like Reddit, Facebook and Twitter.
"There is a balance to be struck between protecting secondary victims – who are sometimes quite vulnerable – and enabling their voices to be heard. In addition, highly personal artefacts and documents around homicide, such as crime scene pictures and witness statements, are increasingly accessible online as they are posted and reposted by 'fans' to pore over and this raises some ethical questions.
"Clearly, new technologies have blurred the lines between consumers and producers, writers and readers, crime fact and crime fiction, online and offline, and victims and perpetrators. Our paper marks an important milestone in beginning to make sense of these shifts and is just one of many current projects led by the Centre for Applied Criminology exploring the implications of newer media for crime and criminal justice."
Dr Yardley and Professor Wilson have previously published research examining how homicide perpetrators have used social media sites – such as Facebook – in their crimes, while their colleague Dr Imran Awan has written an academic paper focusing on Islamophobia on Twitter.