Exactly – The story on TV broadcast: 26.09. – 02:05

Description

Live shows, podcasts, magazines, TV shows: True crimes reach millions of viewers in Germany. According to a data analysis by the Weisser Ring victim support organization, 76 percent of all episodes of crime podcasts are about murder and manslaughter. Reporter Daniel Tautz looks at the true crime phenomenon for “exactly” and sees what the reports do to victims and their families. The film can be seen from September 23rd in the ARD Mediathek and on the YouTube channel MDRInvestigativ and will be broadcast on September 25th at 8:45 p.m. on MDR television. “If you only give numbers and facts, people simply don’t watch,” explains Constanze Jacob. She is a reporter for the MDR program “Kripo live”. “exactly” accompanies a day of filming for a program in which a sexual assault on a young woman in Magdeburg is reported. During filming, Constanze Jacob is faced with many ethical and moral questions. “Kripo live” relies on the opportunities offered by true crime: the possibility of solving a crime. But not all true crime formats are about solving crimes. Reporter Daniel Tautz attends a huge live show by the podcast duo “Weird Crimes”. The two presenters discuss the case of the Bhagwan movement and the actions of Ma Anand Sheela. They bring the perpetrator from back then live on stage. The report shows how the audience reacts. Cultivating a perpetrator cult is a common criticism of true crime formats. And the more unbelievable a case is, the greater the chances that it will be told over and over again. The mysterious disappearance of 28-year-old Lars Mittank during his holiday in Bulgaria has been providing material for true crime formats for ten years. The private investigator, who is still looking for Lars Mittank today, says of the podcasts: “Ten percent are well done, the rest is bad.” His criticism: Most formats do not contact the relatives. The editors of “Zeit Verbrechen” tried to take a different approach. “How could I do a story about the murder of a 15-year-old girl if I did not speak to the girl’s living relatives?” asks editor-in-chief Daniel Müller. “Then I won’t do the story.” How critical is the phenomenon of true crime formats and what do crime victims and their relatives demand?