"I know there have been other bloggers who focus on crime who don’t mind criticizing victims as well. Saying 'well, if you live that kind of life…' I don’t intend to be one of those bloggers. If you are coming here looking to bitch about something inappropriate or strange in a victims’ life, from here on out, I can tell you, you can go someplace else. The family members and loved ones of those people are surfing the web. I know it, even if you don’t. For some of them, it is bad enough that anyone writes about the crime at all..."
Countless amateur detectives visit Huff's popular crime site every day. Huff is a featured contributor at Court TV's Crimelibrary.com, and a guest expert on many televised crime shows. For all these reasons, I picked Huff to participate in my deceptively simple feature: Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.
Disclaimer: While I can't imagine why children would read The Publishing Spot, this edition is not for children, as many of these links reference grim material...
Jason Boog:
On average, how many readers contribute to the research on a single case? What kind of a role do your readers play in your writing and analysis on your blog?
Steve Huff:
Readers contributing to a case is somewhat new for me. I was doing this solo for a long time, and that's something I take some pride in. At first contributions would come in private e-mails, and I'd develop a relationship with that person...
A few of them, with my encouragement, started their own crimeblogs, actually. Beginning very recently, with the murders of Rachel and Lillian Entwistle, and the eventual charges against Rachel's husband Neil, readers putting new info in comments on blog entries seemed to really take off. I love that, because it is concrete evidence of the elitism being removed from news-gathering.
I grew up with Uncle Walter Cronkite on the tube every night -- the avuncular voice of authority on the news of the day. I now live in a time when 'angrymom' from who knows where might find a link on the worldwide web that marks the beginning of a major story. This is what I love about readers contributing, what I love about using true crime message boards like websleuths.com to determine what stories I might focus on next -- real people are helping to gather real news, unvarnished -- sidestepping the old routes to disseminating information.
Readers on my blog play the role of devil's advocate, sometimes, as to writing and analysis. An idea proposed in a discussion in the comments may spark another idea entirely in my head. Sometimes they function like my fact-checkers. That can be embarrassing, and it can be great. A few are even good about letting me know if I've used particularly bad grammar, got a name wrong, that sort of thing.
Jason Boog:
How would you characterize your relationship with the 'mainstream' press? How will your work influence journalism? Are crime reporters (from newspapers or television) generally supportive or threatened by your work?
Steve Huff:
I'd say my relationship to the 'mainstream' press is better than what many bloggers seem to have. There is a tendency among bloggers to knee-jerk criticize press coverage, regardless, something I rarely feel the need to do. I recognize that at the moment, the seed of the story I might break wide open was still sown by someone writing or the AP, or reporting even for their hometown newspaper. I might uncover great information -- but not without that reporter's blurb in a Google News search having prompted me to look in the first place.
I have gained what appears to be some very solid respect from journalists, editors, and producers who have done work I respect. Some will approach me via phone or e-mail first if they think there is a deeper, possibly internet-based element to a story.
I had a conversation with a producer for NBC that I felt crystallized how I feel about the "msm" and how some whom I have worked with seem to feel about me -- we agreed that we both cared more than anything else about one thing -- telling the most accurate, and hopefully interesting, version of the story possible. The journalists or producers I often like best aren't about competing with anyone -- they just want to be able to tell the whole story.
I may already see an influence from my work on some stories in the news -- I can tell some journalists, often younger, more web-savvy folks -- are hitting the internet first thing when a story with certain elements hits the wires. Used to be I was the one saying, 'hey, did you all know this guy/gal had a blog,' now I'm sometimes reading about it in the news first, then saying, 'well they found that; wonder what I can turn up?'
I've encountered instances of journalists seeming annoyed that I found something first, but in general, I have found that the more well-established the reporter, or the larger the entity behind them (NBC, ABC, Fox, etc) the more likely they are to feel anything but threatened, but rather impressed and very encouraging. I've more often encountered people in smaller TV markets seeming a little put-out, and in one instance stealing my research and calling it breaking news. Basically, those working at a national level, or in large cities like Seattle, New York, or Boston, feel more secure about this news-gathering thing, and I'm just a help to them in uncovering the whole story.
Jason Boog:
It seems like crime blogs often collaborate, sharing leads, research, and cases. What are your favorite crime blogs, and how do you interact with the people who write them? How can a fledgling writer find this kind of community?
Steve Huff:
This is the best thing about crime-blogging, sometimes -- other crime bloggers. There is a small element of competition, but it seems totally trumped by our mutual interest in getting to the heart of the story, even "sleuthing" it, if you will. The collaboration is remarkable, and it is almost entirely quid-pro-quo -- you help me now, I'll certainly help you later.
I like jetd63.blogspot.com, the weblog that covers the crimes and trials of Joseph Edward Duncan III. Jules Hammer is brilliant, and a gifted researcher. I like Dan Riehl's blog, www.riehlworldview.com -- Dan's nominally a political blogger, a conservative, but he has done some very good crime coverage on certain cases, breaking news himself, and making his own TV appearances.
I like www.thetrenchcoat.com -- he'd been blogging, mostly about crime, for years when I found his weblog. I was disappointed, thinking man, crimeblogs are nothing new... turns out he never thought of himself as a "crimeblogger" until I called him one. He and I started the true crime blogroll, eventually. I read legendary crime writer Ann Rule's blog, found at www.annrules.com -- Ann doesn't particularly blog about crime, but she's a lovely person and it's nice to see just how normal a famous crime writer's life can be.
The list is really quite long, and if I was answering the question on a different day, you'd get a different answer. Finding this sort of community? Use blog search engines, like www.technorati.com, or blogsearch.google.com, and search out people who are blogging about your subject of interest. Read more than one entry of their own weblog, too. Don't be afraid to leave comments, and don't be afraid to write the blogger an e-mail.
As more people seem to know me, I'm getting the impression they are intimidated at the prospect of e-mailing me, and I really don't bite. I'm just really busy, sometimes. But reach out to people -- it's worth it.
» Five Easy Questions: Steve Huff, Part Two from ThePublishingSpot
Yesterday, Steve Huff explored how a recent murder evoked painful memories about his own family. In a few paragraphs, this crime writer delivered more insight into the murders than an army of salacious tabloid reporters. By questioning his ... [Read More]
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