“To Catch a Predator” was definitely my most interesting projects I’ve ever been involved with. Interrogating these sex offenders and pedophiles was nerve wracking and the conversations between the predators and underage decoys I was able to view were both shocking and overtly inappropriate. How these potential sex offenders didn’t think they would eventually be caught in action, I do not know. In the age of internet, nothing is private. No matter how many privacy settings exist, the information is never as secure as it seems. Internet based companies are constantly watching what people visit online in order to infiltrate the information and send advertisements directly to your browser. Companies hired to watch your internet involvement is just one of the many examples of how your information on the internet is really never private.
Hosting “To Catch a Predator” made me feel as though I was providing important news to viewers. I didn’t really feel like a journalist. I felt more of a news anchor reporting on the sex offenders living in people’s computers. The show worked in conjunction with online watchdog group Perverted Justice. Although critics bash the show by saying that media outlets, such as “To Catch a Predator”, don’t have the right to expose criminal behavior is absolutely ridiculous. Who was going to expose the information if we didn’t? We left the legal punishment of each suspect up to police and prosecutors.
The show allowed viewers to understand the “need to know” basis of dangerous predators online. Parents and all online users need to know the reality of online pedophiles and perverts.
I don’t think the show did any harm to the public. It simply showed the dangerous reality of online predators.
Nice POV writing.