I was intrigued by the presentation today involving the “To Catch a Predator” television series. When examining this series from the perspective of the persuasive techniques what we discussed for media analysis, it seems that this strongly exhibited examples of both diversion and simple solutions. I did some reading into both the television program, and Perverted Justice, the private watchdog group that NBC hires to actually catch the predators. While it is true that Perverted Justice as a solid track record of catching online predators and taking them to trial, their record is not so impressive when it comes to actual convictions. Apparently, the techniques that they use to actually catch the predators are not entirely legal, and violate the rights of the predators, who are then able to get their case dropped in trial.
If NBC was so inclined, I’m sure that they could consult with an attorney or two and get some advice on how to catch the predators in a way that would be more legally sound, and that might result in putting these alleged child molesters behind bars. However, if these changes were made to the show, it would undoubtedly lose much of the drama and sensationalism expected from primetime television. It is this drama that diverts the viewer’s attention, and prevents the audience from questioning what actually happens after the cameras are turned off. We assume that because we see the bad guy being led off in handcuffs, that justice is about to be served. This is the “simple solution.” In reality, criminal justice, and the larger issue of internet predation, is much more complex, and is not being effectively addressed by the tactics of the show.
NBC is willing to sacrifice the integrity of the show in exchange for a larger viewing audience. By using diversion, simple solution, and possibly even big lie tactics, viewers are fooled into thinking that the show is actually simply exploiting a serious problem for their own gain.