Media attention is often unavoidable for victims and survivors of crime. Whether it’s breaking news, coverage of crime trends, or true crime stories told years later, very little is truly off-limits to journalists and content creators. While some media outlets aim to help, not all coverage has positive results — and too often, it retraumatizes those already on a difficult healing journey.
Victims are not characters created for entertainment; they are real people navigating real trauma.
Below, you’ll find three guides developed by the National Center for Victims of Crime. Two are designed to help: one for content creators (journalists, podcasters, and documentarians) to work ethically and minimize harm, and one for survivors and advocates to manage media interactions. The third is a guide for ethically consuming true crime content.
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