“The Yara Case – Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt,” the Netflix docuseries about the death of the twelve-year-old from Brembate di Sopra, is causing a lot of discussion. Made by the same authors as Sanpa, The Yara Case has sparked a long series of debates about the guilt of Massimo Bossetti, definitively sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the little girl.

The discussions surrounding this series have been particularly heated because according to the most critical voices, the authors and in particular the director Gianluca Neri have supported the innocent theses on Massimo Bossetti. Netflix has also ended up in the eye of the storm with the accusation of wanting to profit from a tragedy by giving voice to Yara’s murderer to ride our obsession for true crime.

Leaving aside the case itself – this is not the place to comment or question the sentences – the crux of the matter perhaps lies precisely in our obsession with crime news that not only fills the platforms that broadcast TV series, but also the schedules, newspapers and the rankings of the most listened to podcasts. Of course, it is the way in which certain stories are told that makes the difference, but it is impossible to maintain a consistently high quality in the storytelling and staging in the face of such demand from the public. On the contrary, since true crime is a transversal obsession in terms of target, each format adapts to the audience it wants to address.

There is of course the professionalism of some journalists, but also the sensationalism of generalist television that talks about bloody deaths with morbid details at all hours, especially in the morning and early afternoon when in front of the small screen there are more fragile and easily impressionable people such as the elderly and minors. This is because the most easily impressionable subjects such as elderly and poorly educated women, are an audience that follows crime news with great involvement and all this pays off in terms of ratings and therefore advertising revenue for the networks.

Still on the generalist side, Le Iene stood out for having taken the true crime genre one step further towards sensationalism by seeking evidence to refute the innocent theories that would exonerate some people definitively convicted. The Italia 1 program dedicated dozens of reports to Olindo Romano and Rosa Bazzi leading many people to believe in a possible reopening of the case, a request then in fact presented by the couple’s lawyers and rejected by the competent authorities.

Netflix, on the other hand, is targeting a different type of audience, one that in theory should be more familiar with a more sophisticated and multifaceted type of true crime story. But in the country where tragedy and farce go hand in hand, it becomes almost impossible to talk about cases like that of Yara Gambirasio without triggering that frenetic and at times morbid attention from the public. The story of Massimo Bossetti and his family certainly contributed to this, a family drama made of secrets, lies and betrayals that has sparked even more general interest. It is difficult to tell this story without at times falling into the grotesque but it is precisely the grotesque connotation of the personal story of her killer that has never lowered attention on this case.

A story with these characteristics could not fail to tickle the interests of the platforms that feed not only on our subscriptions, but also on all the noise that their products generate. Without discussions, without word of mouth, without the continuous bouncing on social media of clips, memes and video explanations, you can’t talk about a successful product. And without a doubt The Yara Case is a successful product not only because the numbers released by Netflix tell us so, but because the number of interactions and engagement that create content related to the series tells us so.

The platforms profit from our obsession with true crime and, having no pedagogical or educational mission towards their audience, try to pander to the public’s interest.

On the other hand, the public service has a completely different mission, and instead has no qualms about using sensationalist tones when talking about crime stories.

As Luca Sofri explains well, the media attention surrounding cases like this is disproportionate to the impact these investigations have on us as a community, and yet we are the ones, regardless of our income, origin or level of education, who as a community have an insatiable hunger for crime news, especially if it is fueled by sordid and morbid details.

So maybe we should collectively question our obsession with true crime and why we can’t stop talking about it, discussing it, listening to terrible and painful stories. Is it really a collective catharsis or are we instead fueling an industry of squalor and morbidity? Aren’t we ourselves the first to ask for more true crime and more from true crime? Aren’t we the ones who make this kind of product so successful?

As long as demand is so high, we should not be surprised if those who aim to sell do their job, with all due respect to the victims and their families, who have to relive every day the horror caused by our obsession with them.