[Dante3]

Dateline was doing a great public service. They broke no laws, helped out law-enforcement - and saved who knows how many youngsters. As a parent, I am grateful what they did. They deserved getting high ratings. As you said, those two do not have to be mutually exclusive.

[longtermmemmory]

actually dateline DID break laws if they violated chain of custody rules.

I think the police affiliation was a re-election scheme and an effort to create arms length immunity from challeges to chain of custody.

IOW: Chain of custody starts after the police make an arrest not from before.

Remember a who bunch of the aleged predators were let off due to dateline botching the evidentiary rules.