Excuse me???

Reader comment on: Entrapping NPR

Submitted by Kindwarrior (United States), Mar 9, 2011 13:09

Maybe I'm just to young to remember the good ole' days when Journalists told the truth to the people they're investigating -- maybe but more likely that day never existed. Most people are smart enough be circumspect around a journalists; Most people engaged in nefarious activities are adept at presenting false fronts. On the planet I live on, for as long as I have a memory, it was common practice for Journalists to present themselves as someone the target of investigation would likely be candid with. In this world there was even an entire genre of "Undercover" investigative journalism -- fairly effective because it would expose attitudes and behaviors that were being concealed and misrepresented by the target.

"Entrapment" is a legal term, restricted to law enforcement; Even in this domain, there is room for going "undercover": Pretending to be a Muslim group to see if a company is willing to sell embargoed product, etc. Legally, entrapment only occurs when it is a law enforcement officer that "induces" a criminal activity: "If you give me $100; I'll give you a BJ" is an inducement. If the person offering the inducement is the undercover law enforcement person then you have "entrapment" presuming that there hasn't been other dialog that establishes the context and nature of the contract. Using "entrapment" this context is reminiscent of the same Leftist sophistry that calls the removal of offensive art "Censorship" when it is merely individual or collective judgement. To be "censorship" the state must be involved in the decision making.

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