A number of major media are taking long looks in to the NBC francise "To Catch A Predator." Today, The Dallas Morning News had a fairly lengthy article examining a recent sting in Texas, which lead to 20 arrests and one suicide. All 20 arrests were thrown out "because of evidence problems. Esquire, which hit stands today, also has an article about the case and 20/20 is apperently working on a piece also.
I think this all very interesting, because I have always had some problems with the idea of this show. First, from a journalistic standpoint I think it seriously crosses the line from reporting on news to creating news. This is a clear violation of the SPJ's Code of Ethics;
"Avoid misleading re-enactments or staged news events. If re-enactment is necessary to tell a story, label it".
Second, I always thought this was on shaky legal ground. The whole innocent until proven guilty is sort of thrown out the window by Chris Hansen and his team. I am all for arresting these men, but ruining their lives on a national scale before they are convicted of anything...hell, before they are even officiallly charged with anything is bothersome to me.
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