Corrupted-Justice Article

CHICAGO (CN) – Marsha Bartel, an investigative journalist, has sued NBC Universal for wrongful termination in Federal Court. Bartel, former producer of NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” says she told “Dateline” producers that they were violating NBC policies and ethical standards by its relationship with law enforcement agencies and “Perverted Justice,” an organization that lures adult men into meeting minors for illicit sex, and which has been accused of exposing minors to pornography, and which she says is unethically paid to participate in the news stories. Bartel claims NBC ignored her complaints, so she refused to produce the Predator series, and NBC retaliated by firing on the pretext of a mass layoff. She is represented by Roger Simmons of Frederick, Md.

Here are a few quotes of the more interesting revelations revealed in the wrongful dismissal complaint - Images of the full court documents can be found below. The converted document images may be difficult to read. Click here to view the original PDF file. (290 Kbytes)

NBC began running a sting operation now known as "To Catch a Predator" which succeeds by tapping into American culture's interest in public humiliation.
...violates many of NBC's own policies and guidelines as well as numerous journalistic ethical standards
...Perverted-Justice (a shadowy organization with ill-defined purpose) ...
Contrary to NBC Policies and Guidelines, the identities of Perverted Justice's 50 plus volunteers working at Dateline's behest were kept secret from additional producer, Marsha Bartel." When she inquired, she was told Dateline checked only a couple of them.
Prior to receiving payment from NBC, Perverted Justice was described in its Dateline scripts as a vigilante organization. However, NBC's description of Perverted Justice was later changed to that of a watchdog organization.
...when Ms. Bartel raised concerns about controversial comments made by the founder and bead of Perverted Justice, Dateline Executive Producer David Corvo told her, " We all know they're (Perverted Justice) nuts."
Perverted Justice founder and its volunteers conducted numerous activities in both their professional and personal lives which demonstrate a conflict of interest.
Contrary to NBC Policies and Guidelines, NBC unethically pays Perverted Justice to troll for and lure targets into its sting thereby giving it a financial incentive to lie to and trick targets of its sting.
According to host, Chris Hansen, Perverted Justice acts as a type of "wall" with law enforcement . That is simply a ruse to give the public the impression that NBC is conducting itself within ethical standards of the news industry.
...dramatically staged arrest scenarios and video taped police interrogations to capture audience attention, increase ratings and ultimately revenues for NBC.
Perverted Justice does not provide complete transcripts from its trolling operations...
Contrary to NBC's Policies and Guidelines, Dateline cannot independently verify the
accuracy of Perverted Justice transcripts.
Perverted Justice's agents, acting as children, sometimes beg individuals to come to the sting locations even after the targets of the sting initially decide not to come. Transcripts of these phone conversations are either not recorded or are made available to the public, leaving viewers with incomplete and false impressions.
...more interested in sensationalizing and dramatizing the Predator series for profit than news reporting.
Perverted Justice has been accused of committing the exact crime it claims it wishes to prevent, i.e., minors being exposed to pornography. Yet when this allegation was brought to the attention of NBC, no action was taken.