"Predator": Broad Ethical Concerns

Among journalists, the techniques used in the "Predator" series have raised some eyebrows. While no one wants to be accused of defending the scummy men caught up in the Dateline stings, the show touches some thorny ethical issues that many observers say cannot be ignored, despite the producers' noble claim that it is helping to rid cyberspace of sexual creeps. While the men exposed on the show may deserve the resulting public humiliation and legal charges, critics maintain that to publicly expose child molesters is the job of law enforcement and is not an appropriate role for the media.₂ On the Dateline blog, host Chris Hansen wrote that he and his staff leave the punishment to the police and prosecutors, but critics say it is punishment enough to identify someone as a child molester on national TV, a punishment NBC has no right or authority to inflict.₂"Predator" has been also been blasted with accusations of checkbook journalism, cooperating too closely with law enforcement and resorting to deceptive reporting techniques that might, in some cases, constitute entrapment. Critics maintain NBC could report on the problem of Internet sex predation without resorting to controversial tactics.₃ Dateline producer, David Corvo, defends "Predator" as a new form of enterprise journalism, one suited to the electronic age. But Douglas McCollam of the Columbia Journalism Review disagrees. "The distinction between enterprise and entertainment can be a difficult one. Dateline hasn’t so much covered a story as created one." ₁

Writer Richard Rapaport accuses Dateline of hiding from the ethical criticism of the show behind an unconventional "insurance policy," which refers to the indefensible actions of the men caught in the stings.₅ Rapaport chastises NBC for employing legally and morally problematic techniques of public humiliation as a way to increase ratings and revenue.₆ John Cook of RADAR Online agrees. "Even by the bug-eating, race-baiting, promiscuity-celebrating standards of reality television, 'To Catch a Predator' is monstrously exploitative – a Television Age Roman Coliseum where freakish criminals are publicly humiliated for bloodsport and ratings."₇

Despite the criticism, NBC defends the "Predator" series as a public service, and many people agree with them. But for revisiting the topic of online sex predators 10 times, NBC has been accused of creating a news story rather than reporting one. Skeptics argue the network's "public service" will fly out the window the moment the show's ratings drop. The "Predator" series has averaged 9.1 million viewers per episode, compared to about 7 million viewers for other Dateline shows.₁

Some observers complain the show is clearly meant to inflame parents' fears about violent Internet perverts, and the show's producers admit that fewer than one in 10 of the men caught in the "Predator" stings have previous criminal records.₁ Some law enforcement officers disapprove of Dateline luring dangerous men to residential neighborhoods and point out that there are safer, more effective ways to nab sex predators.₇ Child safety advocates are also among "Predator’s" critics; they also accuse Dateline of overstating the problem of Internet sex predation.₇ The work of many researchers in this area shows that most children are quite savvy in their use of the Internet and able to brush off unwanted solicitations.₇

Perverted Justice has its own vocal critics, and NBC has been harshly criticized for cooperating with the online organization. PeeJ's aggressive evidence-gathering techniques and questionable reputation cause many observers to worry that the people caught in the Dateline stings are treated as criminals before they set foot into a courtroom to defend themselves.₈