Caught in the act Fired producer sues NBC over ethical issues with 'Predator' series

www.suntimes.com ^ | May 31, 2007 | Robert Feder

[Ditto]

WTF is "journalistic ethical standards"?

When he was a reporter, Mark Twain got the following advise from an editor.

"Get your facts first,
and then you can distort them as much as you please."

[ishabibble]

>>The setup usually involves the targets’ exposure and humiliation on camera by nauseatingly smug host Chris Hansen. Then they’re arrested by local police outside.<<

This show has always appalled me, and I do think that Chris Hansen displays a sick glee in humiliating these men. The dangerous part is that so many people will think that this show is handling the problem, when in fact, it is very likely teaching would be pedophiles to hunt smarter.

Also, it’s pretty sick or petty or I don’t know...just really wrong that the cops hiding out back watch the entire exchange take place and when the sick slob is walking down the drive, they move in like gang buster SWAT teams. Nice.
Cops as actors. Everybody needs their 15 minutes of fame.

There is another thread here today about the fall of the Roman Empire. One of the top reasons was the ever growing need for the Gladiator type sports. That’s what this sick program is about, and in the Netherlands, there will be a new “reality” game show where a dying woman’s kidneys are the prize. All of it is just wrong and bad and lessens the importance of the issues.

[leadpenny]

“nauseatingly smug host Chris Hansen”

I stopped reading right there.

This gal may have a case but Hansen and NBC have done a service to the country. I hope they keep exposing the perps.

When they first started the series, the police departments were not involved. I suspect when police are notified of the sting going down, they want part of the action.

[TexasCajun]

I'm actually curious at to what kind of person would actually go to a strangers house, take is clothes off in the garage and walk naked into a home where a minor was supposedly home alone.

I don't care if it is sensationalism spurred on by the producers.

This predator needs the his family, friends, coworkers, community and the world to see him as the dangerous pervert he is.

[jaydubya2]

Since everyone hates sex offenders, it’s difficult to argue that this type of sting operation is a bad thing. I often wondered if it’s a waste of law enforcement manpower to pursue these perverts in this fashion. They do catch some weak minded sickos with this sting, but are they actually making an impact on the real crime? By seducing these guys openly on the Internet are they encouraging others to participate in this behavior?
Turning into a entertainment show lifts it to another level.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Wonder when NBC is going to announce they will spend a few days in rehab?

[SlapHappyPappy]

Actually, from what I have heard, many of these same tactics are used in non-telivized stings because it helps prove intent.

[robertpaulsen]

"WTF is "journalistic ethical standards"?"

An oxymoron.

[robertpaulsen]

The purpose of the law is to prevent/punish the corruption of minors. I understand that. I agree with that. If an adult corrupts a minor, he/she should be locked up.

But these guys aren't doing that. No minor is corrupted. What, actually, did they do?

[windcliff]

ping

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

Currently, there is an underage girl in my gas tank, holding a stick of dynamite. A half-naked man with some Estes model rocket engines is trying to get in there also.

I'm in quite a quandary here.

[70th Division]

You are absolutely RIGHT! Their favorite line is “This is the first time I have EVER done anything like this.” I watched it once and they caught the same guy twice in two days. Too funny

[AppyPappy]

But these guys aren't doing that. No minor is corrupted. What, actually, did they do?

Your logic is flawed. Your logic says that a child must be raped before we can stop the crime of rape. If you threaten the President's life, they will not wait until you pull the trigger to arrest you. Conspiring to commit the crime is a crime. Clearly these guys were there to commit the crime.

[AppyPappy]

That was the naked guy I think. He proved the point about the importance of the show.

[Liberty Valance]

Hammering perverts like these should be a national sport.

I agree. Wish they would branch out into folks who promote and protect illegal aliens.

[CAWats]

The setup usually involves the targets' exposure and humiliation on camera by nauseatingly smug host Chris Hansen.

No bias reporting here.

[CAWats]

...lure targets into the sting..

This is an absolute lie! No one goes online and says "Im 12 years-old. Wanna have sex with me?"

[CAWats]

The predators should have been shot in the head the minute they showed up for their “dates.”

[Titan Magroyne]

Their favorite line is “This is the first time I have EVER done anything like this.”
I love that show. Another popular rejoinder is:

"I came here to make sure the girl/boy would be safe," as if to say they're looking out for the kid's best interests.

Really shocking how many of them are aware of To Catch a Predator-style stings before arriving to the house but are seemingly helpless to the compulsion that brings them there. If that isn't proof of the need for better than the justice system's catch-and-release response to pedophiles, I don't know what is. A few of them even admit to prior convictions for sex crimes, yet here they are again. Sick.

Now that I think about it, the Actual Number One Favorite Line is some version of "She told me she was 18 years old" after Chris Hansen asks them the age of the kid they're coming to see. Hansen is "nauseatingly smug"? All he does is produce a hard copy of the online chat that disproves the creep's lie. That he manages to do so time after time after time is mere proof of his professionalism. Me, I'd be stuffing those pages down the creep's throat to muffle the screams caused by my next act ...

[tpaine]

Conspiring to commit the crime is a crime.

Entrapment.--

(1)  A law enforcement officer, a person engaged in cooperation with a law enforcement officer, or a person acting as an agent of a law enforcement officer perpetrates an entrapment if, for the purpose of obtaining evidence of the commission of a crime, he or she induces or encourages and, as a direct result, causes another person to engage in conduct constituting such crime by employing methods of persuasion or inducement which create a substantial risk that such crime will be committed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conspiring to commit entrapment is a crime.