True Crime Survivors & Producers SPEAK OUT On Creating Podcasts That HELP, Not Hurt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 16th, 2023

True Crime Survivors & Producers SPEAK OUT On Creating Podcasts That HELP, Not Hurt.

A PANEL OF TRUE CRIME SURVIVORS AND INDEPENDENT PODCAST PRODUCERS ARE UNITING TO SPEAK OUT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATING ETHICAL TRUE CRIME CONTENT AT ‘PODCAST MOVEMENT 2023’ IN DENVER, COLORADO,

AUGUST 22ND, FROM 2:30 – 3PM

PANELISTS FROM SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, LOS ANGELES, AND SOUTH CAROLINA TO MEET IN DENVER, COLORADO FOR “THE WORLD’S LARGEST PODCASTING CONFERENCE.”

PODCAST MOVEMENT 2023 TAKES PLACE FROM AUG 21ST- 24TH AT THE GAYLORD ROCKIES RESORT AND CONVENTION CENTER, LOCATED AT 6700 NORTH GAYLORD ROCKIES BLVD, AURORA, CO. 80019, US.

Click here for more details on the panel and the conference schedule

DENVER, CO — True crime survivors and podcast professionals are coming together to speak out on the importance of producing ethical true crime content.

Ever since Serial (an investigative journalism podcast about the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee) put podcasting on the pop culture map nearly a decade ago, true crime podcasts have been produced and consumed voraciously.

Too often these podcasts are created and monetized in ways that range from irresponsible to exploitative — with victims and their families cut out of the process entirely. Little consideration is put into the potentially negative or re-traumatizing effects of how a story is told (or the impact of telling it at all). Further adding to the problem is that opportunities to make a positive difference (through support and advocacy) are passed up.

This year, during the world’s largest podcasting conference, a group of survivors and independent producers will be taking the stage with a panel titled, “True Crime Podcasts That Help Not Hurt: How to Produce True Crime Ethically.” Their goal is to start a conversation about changing the way we approach, produce, and commodify these dramatic stories.

Leaders of this movement include Kara Robinson Chamberlain, who survived an attempt on her life by a serial killer when she was 15-years-old. She’s now a movie producer of films featured on Lifetime and Oxygen. She’s also a speaker, advocate, and co-host of the new podcast, “Survivor’s Guide to True Crime.” Kara’s co-host, Kimberly Corban, is a sexual assault survivor, certified victim advocate, criminal justice professional, and keynote speaker.

Corban, who grew up in Greeley, Colorado, still calls the Rocky Mountain state her home. After serving as the key witness in her attacker’s trial and successfully garnering a sexual assault conviction, she began her advocacy work. Today she’s using her case as an illustration for how the criminal justice system should work.

Independent producers like Anna Van Valin (with Van Valin Productions) stand side-by-side with true crime survivors. Van Valin previously worked at 20th Century Fox Film Co. where she launched the podcasting initiative. Anna, who holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Brown University, says ethical true crime is a subject she’s passionate about, and one that needs more attention.

“We are going to share what ethical true crime is, why we need it, and how to make it,” Van Valin said.

Van Valin’s sentiments are shared by former FOX LA and Boston TV news reporter Christine O’Donnell. O’Donnell and Van Valin teamed up in 2019 to further develop an ethical true crime podcast based on a human-trafficking story O’Donnell got too close to while she was reporting in Los Angeles.

“I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a while — to share how children are pulled into hostile sex work from what turns out to be the lack of safety in their own homes,” O’Donnell said. “I have a desire to share it in a way that doesn’t further exploit the children who never should have been exploited in the first place.”

“Finding a way to tell a story like this is hard,” O’Donnell explains. “It’s not easy to get help funding the production of this story. It’s also not easy to reach out to and work with the survivors, or the loved ones they’ve left behind. And, it’s certainly not easy to advocate that victims get a slice of financial profits from their traumatic story. But if actors, hosts, and entire production companies can profit off trauma they never actually experienced, then shouldn’t the real victims profit as well?”

Just because telling ethical true crime isn’t easy, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. That’s why Chamberlain, Corban, Van Valin, and O’Donnell teamed up to present a panel on this very topic at the world’s largest podcast conference. Catch their panel: “True Crime Podcasts That Help Not Hurt: How to Produce True Crime Ethically” on Tuesday, August 22nd from 2:30-3pm on the Society, Culture and Advocacy Stage (Inside the Expo) at the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center located at: 6700 North Gaylord Rockies Blvd, Aurora, CO. 80019

Contact: christine@brightsighted.com

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