20/20 readies critique of To Catch a Predator

[Dr. Whiplash]

ABC News has confirmed that its newsmagazine 20/20 will air a critical feature about the "To Catch a Predator" series on rival Dateline NBC, IMDb.com reports.

The feature will focus on Dateline episodes filmed in Murphy, Texas, in which 20 alleged pedophiles were arrested after being lured online to a home where they expected to engage in sex with an underage girl. In one instance, a former district attorney shot himself to death after police arrived at his home.

No date has been set for the 20/20 episode.

[AmpedNow]

Here come the critics...

Leave it to the ABC news rag to rag the NBC news rag.

Of course, if ABC would've been the first with this idea...

[Ace Purple]

MSNBC had a mini-marathon on yesterday recapping moments from the To Catch A Predator series (and showing "behind the scenes" video of it) that I found while looking for Hurricane Dean coverage. No wonder this stuff gets ratings; it's quite compelling. The way the guys react when Chris Hansen walks in is remarkable, with in many cases there being a total change of demeanor.

[fearpeddler]

Didnt they offer the segments on dvd a few months back??

[PassiveObserver]

As a journalist I'm entertained and appalled by To Catch a Predator. Often times they do the right thing. On the flip side, they also entrap a lot of men who would have otherwise ended the conversation without as much as asking for an address. The people with Perverted Justice often keep toying with these guys until the wear them down to where they hop in the car and come. I'm not saying these are salt of the Earth type people, but I imagine that if we could see the entire conversations we'd see how Dateline is abusing the law for ratings.

...but I can't stop watching.

[Hoosier Daddy]

...but I can't stop watching.

And that's all they care about.