A program modeled on the U.S. television show “To Catch a Predator” could not be produced in Estonia, investigative journalist Mihkel Kärmas says, because it would not fit the country’s legal or ethical environment.
Last week, Lance Oppenheim’s new feature film “Primetime”, starring Robert Pattinson, premiered in cinemas. The film tells the story of TV journalist Chris Hansen, who in the mid‑2000s confronted suspected child predators on camera. Estonian TV host and journalist Mihkel Kärmas, who went to see the film, is not impressed.
“I understand why it’s a scandalous film that has caused a stir, but I doubt it will become a major hit in Estonia,” Kärmas said.
“Primetime” is based on real events but is a dramatization. At its center is the highly controversial NBC program “To Catch a Predator,” which aired from 2004 to 2007.
The show’s format involved activists posing online as minors and luring men suspected of seeking sexual contact with underage children to a meeting. The encounters were filmed with hidden cameras, and once the man arrived, host Chris Hansen appeared.
“It’s psychologically very gripping. He starts off one‑on‑one, so at first the offenders don’t realize they’re on television,” Kärmas explained.
Hansen read sexually explicit messages from chat logs aloud to the suspects and then revealed that they were on a TV show. According to Kärmas, this structure made the program both innovative and extremely controversial.
“At the time it was groundbreaking, very controversial — and it still is. It became a TV sensation in the United States, but also a deeply polarizing phenomenon. It remains very polarizing today.”
Kärmas said the problem was not only hidden cameras or setting a trap. Similar methods have been used in Estonian journalism as well. What made the show controversial was its entertainment‑driven and punitive nature.
One of the film’s central events is based on a 2006 incident in Texas. During an operation arranged for the show, producers attempted to catch a high‑ranking official who had allegedly communicated with someone posing as a minor. The incident ended with the man’s suicide.
“The trailer mentions ‘I want a whale’. What they mean is that in Hollywood storytelling, the pursuit of a new sensation and higher ratings pushes things further and further — ordinary, excuse me, pedophile offenders aren’t enough anymore; they want to catch a prominent figure,” Kärmas noted.
After the fatal incident in Texas, the show did not end immediately, but NBC eventually cut ties with Hansen. A court case followed, ending in a settlement.
Kärmas said Hansen’s work raises the question of where journalism’s ethical boundaries lie. He calls it a highly risky method. “We see that he continues. He’s had other scandals too, but in that sense he’s still on the air.”
Kärmas does not see any possibility that such a show could air in Estonia, largely because Estonia’s legal and ethical framework differs from that of the United States.
“Just consider the symbiotic relationship they had with the police. They lure the predator to the location, film for a long time, and only then do the police intervene. In Estonia, such cooperation — where journalists participate in a live operation and the police hold back until you finish filming — I cannot imagine,” Kärmas said.
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