By Paul Farhi
The Washington Post
Published: 4/9/06
Excerpt:
The NBC newsmagazine "Dateline" agreed to pay a civilian watchdog group more than $100,000 to create a pedophile sting operation that the network plans to feature in a series of programs next month, network representatives and the organization's founder said.
As part of the sting, the network also went along with police officials' deputizing of the group's members, in effect turning "Dateline's" made-for-TV operation into a law-enforcement action. The segments, taped last month in Ohio, have prompted news media observers and others to question NBC's methods and criticize its practices.
"Dateline's" orchestration of the sting crossed ethical boundaries and could place the network in an awkward legal position, they said.
NBC's senior producer of the segments, Allan Maraynes, confirmed the arrangements but said the network had no qualms about them.
Bob Steele, an ethicist with the nonprofit Poynter Institute, a Florida-based journalism education group, said the arrangement puts NBC in "potentially dicey legal territory" because the distinctions among law enforcement, the news media and a paid agent of the media are blurred.
Journalists typically are protected by "shield laws" that place news-gathering materials off-limits in legal proceedings, he said. With the network so closely linked to the government, however, "this could weaken the legal argument (for protection) in future cases," Steele said. "It's very troubling."
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