"To Catch a Predator" is a type of programming quite familiar in US journalism history.Generally it is known as "yellow journalism," a type of journalism designed in the late 19th Century to increase circulation and advertising by appealing to popular tastes and fears . It focused on "shockers" -- the kind of crimes which violated contemporary tastes and taboos.
It may or may not be your cup of tea but there is no doubt MSNBC is daring, innovative and in this grand tradition -- evoking many of the same journalism controversies as did earlier "yellow journalism."
William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were, of course, its most famous practitioners.
The coverage focused on the kind of crimes gaining prominence in urban America, crimes which drew public concern, partly because papers covered them so prominently when competing for circulation and advertising.
In many cases these kinds of "yellow journalism" became "a part of the story."
Still I have not seen 19th Century instances where newspaper reporters enticed would be criminals into actually committing crimes in a sting operation --- as is routine on Dateline's "To Catch a Predator."
"Yellow Journalism" newspapers tended to operate independently of the police. Dateline co-operates with police -- partly to increase its credibility and respectability. Any doubts about Dateline's entrapment methods, any sense by viewers that it is a extra legal operation tend to dissolve when seeing clear co-operation between Dateline and police.
It is this "sting" quality that set "To Catch a Predator" apart. MSNBC staffers conspire to lure would be predators into computer chat with someone claiming to be underage, then invite the would be criminal into a trap where he is invited to visit the decoy.
The person lured in is then publicly humiliated on camera, then allowed to leave to be tackled and arrested by heavily armed police alerted in advance of the MSNBC "sting."
Whatever happens later in the court system, the on air display of the person lured into the sting administers a form of extrajudicial punishment. It can culminate in loss of job, loss of marriage, loss of children, or, always a possibility, suicide.
This, of course, can be seen as a form of "vigilanteeism" executed BEFORE a rustler steals a horse. Where Dateline appears to truly make journalism history is in deliberately setting up the "sting." In taking upon itself the power to be police, judge, jury, and executioner.
The dramatic police arrest, usually caught on camera, allows MSNBC to portray itself as an anti-crime outfit helping to rid the streets of child predators, persons who would still be at large were it not for MSNBC broadcasters.
The collaboration between MSNBC broadcasters and police has brought charges of conflict of interest, violations of due process, and collaboration with "vigilantes." These issues are examined in detail in an investigative video report posted on YouTube.
It is important to note that the decoy pretending to be under age "comes on" as a willing partner. But given the stigma attached to the "child predator" in today's America, on camera display of a person who responds to the decoy amounts to a private broadcasting corporation taking upon itself the power to mete out one of the severest punishments possible in America today.
The second stage of punishment comes in posting on the web pictures and details concerning those who fall for the internet decoy bait.
In the classic days of 19th Century "Yellow Journalism" on at least one occasion a reporter broke a case -- and the paper boasted how it had outdone the police. The strategy of competing with haphazard, careless, or corrupt police was carefully showcased with front page promotions designed to boost newsstand sales.
Pulitzer and Hearst chains sometimes assigned their reporters to compete with or supplement police investigations of sensational murders or "mashing" (harassment) of working women on the way to the job.
The "Yellow Journals" were truly "mass" in their appeal to large numbers of residents of growing American cities, literate readers with relatively little education and "low brow" tastes.
While later decried by journalism reformers as base and money grubbing, yellow journalism in anecdotal, featurish form sometimes spotlighted the need for reform amid the ills of America's changing times.
MSNBC prominent evening coverage of prison life is a dead ringer recreation of the Hearst/Pulitzer approach. In more than one case "Yellow Journal" reporters disquised as convicts reported from within prisons. In one famous instance a photograph of a woman reporter sitting in the electric chair was prominently displayed.
"Yellow Journalism" focused on many aspects of grassroots life and crime -- whereas its higher brow competitors spotlighted in more abstraction politics and public affairs geared toward the educated and the affluent.
MSNBC's evening crime coverage is squarely in the "Yellow Journalism" tradition. Its daytime programming on politics and economics dilutes the yellow dimension but seeks to make more entertaining the serious topics which could be seen as "elite."
Where Dateline appears to truly make journalism history is in deliberately setting up the "sting." In taking upon itself the power to be police, judge, jury, and executioner.
Think of it as a form of "Yellow Journalism" turned "vigilante."
