Streaming the Celebrification of the Innocent
摘要
This chapter examines the intersection of wrongful conviction, celebrity culture, and digital media in the streaming era. It introduces the concept of celebrification to explain how individuals, particularly exonerees, are transformed into public figures through the popularity of true crime. Drawing on high-profile examples of streaming true crime such as the Exonerated Five, Ryan Ferguson, and Alan Bates, the chapter explores how digital platforms and true crime narratives commodify the personal trauma of wrongful conviction by making a spectacle of advocacy. While celebrification can provide exonerees with platforms for justice and support, it also risks reducing their experiences to consumable content shaped by commercial logics and audience demand. The chapter argues that in an increasingly saturated attention economy, visibility becomes both a resource and a burden, offering symbolic power but often failing to produce substantive personal, legal, or structural change.