A New Doc Questions The Legacy of "To Catch A Predator"
3/4/202619 min
“To Catch a Predator” aired on television as a segment of NBC’s Dateline in the early 2000's. Men would be lured into talking online to a decoy posing as a child then would show up at a so-called 'sting house' fitted with hidden cameras where the truth of their situation would be revealed.
The show eventually became one of the biggest and most influential true crime shows ever, drawing seven million viewers per episode by its final season in 2007. The main draw? Watching the humiliation of the would-be child predators play out in front of your eyes.
David Osit, is a filmmaker whose recent documentary “Predators,” probes the ugly legacy of the show -- how it blurred the lines between justice and entertainment and what it says about us that we watched it.
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First 90 secondsMicah Loewinger· Host0:00
On the Media is supported by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. Hey, you're listening to the On the Media midweek podcast. I'm Micah Loewinger. To set the scene for this episode, we're going back to November two thousand and four, when the wildly successful To Catch a Predator first aired on television as a segment of NBC's Dateline.
Chris Hansen· Soundbite0:41
This thirty-two-year-old guy wants to spend a Sunday afternoon chilling with a thirteen-year-old girl after texting her about getting stoned. But Mike Manzi's date is about to go up in smoke.
Micah Loewinger· Host0:53
The show eventually became one of the biggest and most influential true crime shows ever, drawing seven million viewers per episode by its final season in two thousand and seven. David Ausitt is a filmmaker whose recent documentary, titled Predators, probes the ugly legacy of the show, how it blurred the lines between justice and entertainment, and what it says about us that we watched it. As David Ausitt tells it, there was a script to how every bust went down.
David Osit· Guest1:23
To Catch a Predator would set up hidden cameras in a sting house where men who were having online chats of a sexual