To Catch A Predator: Policing and Perceptions of Crime in Reality Television

• In Event: Constructing 'the Criminal' in TV and Film

Abstract

The dramatic undercover sting operations depicted on Dateline NBC’s hit series To Catch a Predator have entertained, educated, and captivated audiences by bridging ideas of criminal justice and forms entertainment. This research examines what messages are communicated in each episode and how it is communicated to audiences. Content analysis of selected episodes revealed how To Catch a Predator functions to reinforce gender roles in policing, legitimize vigilante policing efforts to control cyber crime, and define the role due process assumes in reality crime television, while further strengthening the partnerships between private and public institutions. Analysis of the role mass media assumes in shaping public perceptions of the criminal justice system, as well as influencing fear within society, is necessary in order to understand how public and private institutions can function to communicate messages of the State, define moral threats within society, and identify the need for social control on the Internet and within local communities.

Author

• Mark Magidson, Carthage College