SCAD event explores realities behind the rage for true crime on TV

The longest-running prime-time series in NBC history, “Dateline” has expanded beyond being just a TV series to one that is a streaming giant as well as a podcast, reflecting the high demand the public has for mysteries and whodunits.

“[The show] is generally about the best in police work and the cases that get closed sometimes after a long time, usually by families working really hard, engaging with police, police doing the right thing sometimes after doing the wrong thing for a number of years,” said Mankiewicz ahead of the panel. “From your morning commute to Washington to filing your tax forms to waiting in line for your flight at Hartsfield, there is a lot that is not working properly. But, for a couple of hours a week, things work properly and that scoundrel gets what is coming.”

Canning agreed that true crime is a topic of which audiences seemingly can’t get enough.

“You can’t believe what your neighbors are capable of — the teacher, the dry cleaner, your kid’s soccer coach,” she said. “Suddenly, you’re in a small town, and you are hearing about affairs and murder. There’s the shock value and the mystery of it, following these cases to see who did it.”

Credit: Colin Douglas Gray

Credit: Colin Douglas Gray

The 24/7 obsession with true crime has changed the lives of Canning and Mankiewicz. The correspondents, who joined “Dateline” as TV reporters, now are spending at least half their time doing podcasts and similar projects.

“The audience is consuming ‘Dateline’ and true crime in all kinds of ways, and we are trying to catch up to them in how they like to consume it the best,” said Mankiewicz. “The stories don’t change, but we are giving it to them in as many ways as possible.”

He likes to ask “Dateline” viewers how they experience the product, and the least likely reply is staying home on Friday night and watching it live. “Mostly people record it and watch later or stream it the next day on Peacock. Some people just listen to the audio. For a lot of people, the podcast fits into their life better.”

Writers and show creators Alexandra Cunningham (“Fatal Attraction,” “Dirty John”), Nick Antosca (“The Act,” “Candy”) and Christopher Barbour (“Criminal Minds,” “In From the Cold”) made up an “Inspired by a True Story” panel and spoke on the challenges of adapting real life crime situations. All agree that it is the psychology of the subjects that intrigue them the most in their profession. While their work is rewarding in many ways, they do face ethical issues on what to write about and not write about — and have to be careful not to re-victimize victims or their families.

Antosca said each project is case-dependent. “If there is a living victim who’s indisputably a victim, then I think you probably can’t tell the story without their blessing,” he said. “The first thing you should do, if you are interested in a story, is reach out to them and get their blessing in participation, which we did with “A Friend of the Family.” Then you may have other cases where a victim is also a killer, and, in that case, you have to see if the story is worth telling without their participation.”

Credit: Colin Douglas Gray

Credit: Colin Douglas Gray

In several of her projects, Cunningham has had to change names of a subject’s family members at their request and make others comfortable with the material. Getting them involved early on and familiar with the actors has been helpful. “You know in your gut when you are taking advantage of people — or you should if you are going to work in this space,” she said. “When you are not being respectful and are adding things or subtracting, that will make them feel exposed.”

This week, Mankiewicz hosts a podcast episode of “Dateline: Missing in America,” dealing with Shy’Kemmia Pate, the 8-year-old in Unadilla, Georgia, who disappeared in 1998. The young girl felt safe in front of her house but one day suddenly disappeared just after her sister put gas in her car and came back for her. It’s not that unusual of a story, Mankiewicz said, save for the length of time she’s been gone. No one has ever been arrested in the case, either. “It goes back a long time, and there is no answer, but you have a family waiting for a phone call every day,” he said.

Cunningham feels a large percentage of people interested in true crime are women. And they learn from watching. “I think they are using it to a large degree instructionally,” she said. “‘How can I avoid this happening to me since I tend to be the victim more than the perpetrator? Is this something here I can learn not to be in these situations — and how to get out of them if I am?’ That is a big component. It’s the opposite of a how to — it’s a how not to.”

What “Dateline” and similar shows reveal best, in addition to how the legal system operates, is what people are capable of, said Mankiewicz.

“Most people in their lives will not be victims of violent crime, but everybody has been in a relationship that didn’t work out the way they wanted it to,” he said. “‘Dateline’ is to some extent about the choices people make in that situation, and some of them are astonishingly horrific, particularly when it involves someone who might be the parent of their children. It is a sad education in human nature.”

“We say [to ourselves and others] all the time — just get a divorce!” added Canning.

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Jim Farmer is the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog, Douglas.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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