Public Eye
March 28, 2006 11:03 AM

More Criticism For "To Catch A Predator"

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Other Guys' Problems
Back in February, I wrote a post asking if "Dateline" goes too far in its popular "To Catch A Predator" series. The series, which just completed taping for a fourth installment, centers on the exposure (and, in recent installments, arrest) of men ostensibly interested in having sex with children.

Now the Dayton Daily News brings word that criticism has greeted the newest iteration of the program, which is build around a sting in Darke County, Ohio. Dateline reportedly compensated members of the controversial "anti-predator organization" Perverted-Justice.com, covering expenses for them to enter chatrooms and pose as children interested in sex and to travel to the area of the sting. Dateline also worked with the Darke County's sheriff's office, which deputized three members of the Perverted-Justice.com organization.

"There are several ethics issues involved in this," Al Tompkins, who teaches ethics at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, told the Daily News. "There's concern when news departments become an arm of law enforcement. There should be a separation of journalists and police, and our job is to cover what they do but not enable and become a participant in the enforcement."

He added: "In this case, there would not have been a crime if there wasn't a deception when they set these up. Journalists should be very reluctant to deceive. It should be a last resort, not the first. And it ought to be rare."

Eighteen men, who drove to a house where they believed they would find a 13, 14, or 15-year old they had met online, were caught in the sting. The series continues to raise difficult ethical questions, as Dateline senior investigative producer Allan Maraynes acknowledged to the Daily News. But Maraynes said that the people at Dateline "believe we're doing the socially responsible thing ... and the journalistically responsible thing."

Add a Comment
by clearly12 March 30, 2006 4:41 PM EST
Wasn't Public eye created to keep an eye on Dan Rather's lies? Isn't CBS critiquing NBC a lot like asking a convited felon to comment on the judicial system? Reporters who write in glass blogs shouldn't throw stones.
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by jm173 March 29, 2006 10:45 PM EST
Looks like your ethics are so bad that you even go so far as to spice up reader posts. I used the term high %%%&? and your system made it look like I was using profanity. CBS has no ethics that's why you're last in the ratings.
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by jm173 March 29, 2006 10:43 PM EST
What DATELINE did was awesome. So what if they're luring these losers into a trap. Maybe some of these lowlife predators will think twice if they think they might be getting stung. It's amazing to see the shameless losers at CBS moralizing about another networks success. This is brought to you from the same has-been network that can't even check its sources closely enough to avoid scandals. Can you say Dan Rather Memogate. I bet if CBS had come up with the idea first, they would be crowing instead of criticizing. Get off your moral high &#**$ and let Dateline get the creeps.
Reply to this comment
by jm173 March 29, 2006 10:42 PM EST
What DATELINE did was awesome. So what if they're luring these losers into a trap. Maybe some of these lowlife predators will think twice if they think they might be getting stung. It's amazing to see the shameless losers at CBS moralizing about another networks success. This is brought to you from the same has-been network that can't even check its sources closely enough to avoid scandals. Can you say Dan Rather Memogate. I bet if CBS had come up with the idea first, they would be crowing instead of criticizing. Get off your moral high @&??* and let Dateline get the creeps.
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by clearly12 March 29, 2006 12:02 PM EST
I think this person is trying to split hair too hard. No one had to be in Podunk Ohio for the sting to happen. Each of those volunteers/deputies could have been sitting in their own homes doing the exact same chat, bringing the would be molesters to the exact same house. I suppose, Dateline could have flown 3 or 4 film crews around the country to each location instead of bringing them to one central place where it was happening. I don't see much of an ethics issue. Should media work with police? What should an honest citizen to if they see a crime in progress? Just because I'm the cub reporter with a camera does that mean I'm not ethically responsible to report a crime? How far does this professor and reporter suggest that we take the seperation between law enforcement and media? Should a reporter refuse to cooperate with police if he filmed a crime? I think not. I think reporters have to be citizens first and reporters second. Now to the "deception" aspect. This reporter contends that there wouldn't have been a crime if not for the deception of the deputized chatters. I'm afraid the reporter is horribly wrong. If those deputies hadn't been there, those 17 men very likely would have traveled to a real childs home, perhaps abducted them and most certianly done a the illegal act with a real child instead being arrested. Has a reporter ever filmed a vice sting before? How's that different? Many ehitcal reporters have good relationships with law officers.
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by ronmwanga March 28, 2006 4:04 PM EST
I wish Dateline wouldn't try so hard to out-60 Minutes 60 Minutes. There is a great amount of wiggle room for original investigative television journalism. They should give Dateline a new slot and allow it to develop its own organic style of investigative stories.
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by geno8808 March 28, 2006 2:48 PM EST
This is a lot like Watergate. We had the secret police (FBI)harnessed to the Washington Post bringing down a hugely popular President.
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by peterbaldwin-2009 March 28, 2006 2:20 PM EST
Deputizing vigilantes for entertainment is something even George Orwell didn't dream up.
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