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Abstract
True crime podcasts (TCPs) are increasingly saturating the Australian media landscape. The most downloaded podcast in the country is the TCP, Casefile and overall true crime is a popular podcast genre. Despite this, there is limited Australian research exploring the perspectives of TCP listeners. Using data from a survey of 124 university students, this article identifies popular subject matter, listening patterns and stylistic attributes of TCPs. Additionally, listener motivations and perceptions are identified. This paper highlights the importance of critically examining Australian TCPs as contemporary sites of information and pleasure that the public may regard as authoritative resources on crime.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. This figure favors the US market.
2. In November 2018, Hedley Thomas and Slade Gibson won the Australian media Walkley award for this production (ABC, Citation2018).
3. Popular Australian true crime podcast hosted by Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb.
4. Chris Dawson is the former husband of Lynn Dawson who disappeared in 1982. His role in her disappearance and potential murder was the subject of The Teacher’s Pet podcast. In 2020, he was charged with her murder and will stand trial in May 2022.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Laura Vitis
Dr Laura Vitis is a Lecturer in the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology. Her research focuses on how technology is used to facilitate gendered, sexual and domestic violence. Her work also examines the role of mediated sites in justice-seeking for violence against women with a particular focus on informal justice-seeking and true crime.
Vanessa Ryan
Vanessa Ryan is a Senior Researcher in the School of Justice, Queensland University of Technology. Her work involves quantitative analysis for various projects including the impact of COVID on domestic and family violence services in Australia, gender violence, adolescent violence, and improving the policing of gender violence. She is currently coordinating a research project to reduce young women's offending through improved service delivery.