Poynter on the Record

A controversial "Dateline" series about sexual predators returns to the airwaves tonight, bringing with it a renewed discussion about the appropriate relationship between the press and law enforcement.

In the last 18 months, the NBC newsmagazine set up three hidden-camera stings to confront suspected pedophiles seeking out young teenagers in Internet chat rooms, leading to the arrests of more than 50 men. Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said the series has done "enormous public good."

But "To Catch a Predator" has also provoked its share of debate, one that is likely to continue as the network airs four new installments of the series in the coming month.

To orchestrate the stings, "Dateline" collaborated with Perverted Justice, an Internet watchdog group whose members pose online as children to catch predators. NBC recently acknowledged that it paid the organization for its work in helping set up the investigation, in which apparent pedophiles are lured to a house, only to be caught on hidden cameras and confronted with a transcript of their Internet chats. ...

"By working with a group that has been deputized, 'Dateline' is essentially partnering with local law enforcement," said Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based journalism school. "Even if the outcome is a desirable outcome, in the long run it undermines their ability to serve as a watchdog."
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