When I was a senior in high school, I was interested in a career in journalism. For my senior capstone project, I interviewed a local news reporter about privacy rights for victims of crimes. I learned that while certain restrictions do apply in these cases, the media does have a fair amount of flexibility when it comes to what they can report on.

As time has passed since my senior year, I've noticed that crime stories have become more public.

I am guilty of my own interest in criminal cases — devouring every detail as updates are provided. As a child, when I grew bored of my chapter books, I read the true crime novels my mother borrowed from the library.

With the growth of the internet and social media, people have a lot more access to criminal cases. The standard news media such as TV and newspapers now have to compete with internet news sites as well, and whoever has the most salacious information to offer typically gets the most clicks.

With the Mariah Woods case that shocked North Carolina in early 2018, strangers created Facebook groups specifically for honoring the victim and speculating on what they thought happened. People also often flock to Twitter and Facebook to search for information on the victims or the suspects in cases.

In the Mariah Woods case, strangers commented on relatives' pictures throwing insults and accusations. At times, it feels like a frenzy that is no different from when people used to go watch criminals hung at the gallows in town squares.

All of this came flooding into my life in a personal way in March of 2018. A member of my extended family, my cousin's husband, was murdered while he was at work. Twenty-four hours after the crime had occurred, the news released the names and pictures of the victims, using their driver's license photos.

One of my relatives expressed a lot of anger at the timing. He felt that their privacy had been invaded and that they had not been given enough time to notify friends and family. I think seeing the name and picture in the news headlines was also a painful reminder that what had happened was real.

The double homicide occurred in a public place. I feel that the privacy of the family is now gone, especially as the case is under active investigation and later will go to trial. While I understand that a crime such as this one is public record, I think the way some reporters obtain information is unnecessary.

There is an article on this case where the reporter made it seem like she had talked to people who were close to the victims.

However, it is clear that she simply searched the victim's name on Facebook and summarized people's statuses. I guess to someone who doesn't know the victim and their family, it would garner sympathy. But to me, it felt fake and creepy.

I don't have a solution to offer up. Crimes, such as murder, are public record and are going to remain in the public eye. And whatever we put out there on our social media pages is fair game to anyone who is able to access them. But I think it is important to step back and think about the people who are affected by these crime stories before we allow our curiosity to overcome us.