For two decades, consumer reporter Jason Pederson exposed suspected scammers and con artists across Arkansas in the popular “Seven on Your Side” feature for Little Rock ABC affiliate KATV.

From crooked contractors to negligent landlords, dishonest mechanics and more, Pederson’s job was to bring their deeds to light and expose them to his audience.

Now he has written a book, “Somebody’s Knocking: Lessons Learned From a Quarter Century of TV Reporting,” an entertaining and informative memoir about not only his time as the “Seven on Your Side” reporter, but his TV career and the adventures — and a few misadventures — he has had along the way.

Cleverly, the book includes QR codes sprinkled throughout the text so that readers can use their smartphone to see the news video about which Pederson is writing

The method was inspired by Pederson’s experience reading “Nightline” host Ted Koppel’s 1996 book “Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television.”

“KATV archived the ‘Nightline’ episodes,” Pederson said during a recent interview. “We had them on a wall on tape. If I read a chapter and wanted to see the episode, I’d go to work early and pull the tape and watch what he was describing in the book.”

Pederson said he originally thought “Somebody’s Knocking” would come with a DVD of his video clips, but the prolifera

tion of QR codes during the pandemic made using them more convenient for readers.

Pederson also takes the “Lessons Learned … ” subtitle seriously, concluding chapters and other sections of the book with a recap of what he learned from his experiences. At the end of an early chapter about his internship at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, where he was trained by no-nonsense consumer reporter Silvia Gambardella, the lessons he learned included “A first draft is far from a final draft,” “Allow criticism to improve you, not define you” and “Speak truth with love or risk being ignored.”

“I didn’t want it to be a vanity project,” Pederson says about the book. “I wanted there to be some reader benefit. I wanted people to come away from reading feeling that something that applied in my case could also apply to something they are dealing with. I tried to find universal truths and lessons in the stories I told.”

The book was released July 16. Pederson will appear from 4-6 p.m. Aug. 17 during an author event at Monticello Branch Library, 114 West Jefferson Ave., Monticello. And he will also be at Bookish Emporium, 514 W. Main St., Heber Springs, noon-4 p.m. Aug. 31, during the Bookish Summer Bash.

Pederson, 54, grew up in New Richmond, Wis., and earned a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

After interning in Minneapolis, he signed on at KTVE in El Dorado in April 1993. It was also in El Dorado where he met his wife, Mary Carol Spencer (they have two children, Spencer, 24, and Shelby, 22; they became foster parents to their “bonus son,” J.B., 39, when he was a teenager).

At KTVE, Pederson caught the attention of KATV news director Bob Steel and went to work for the Little Rock station in 1995. By 1999, he was the “Seven on Your Side” reporter

He delves into the history of the “Seven on Your Side” segment, which was created to expose scams and provide information about product recalls. It started with the help of Sacramento, Calif., consumer reporter Ann Stargardter, who would assist nearly 40 stations in the U.S. in setting up similar segments.

It debuted on KATV on Oct. 26, 1987, with reporter John Dewey. Volunteers from the Junior League fielded calls from the public with tips or story ideas.

Dewey left the station in 1989 and was replaced by Dewayne Graham, who was doing similar reporting in Baton Rouge. Pederson took over from Graham in 1999 and spent the next two decades chasing scammers and ne’er do wells.

One of juiciest chapters of the book is “The Scoundrels (The Dishonest Eight),” in which Pederson details stories of the “repeat cheats,” one of whom, Joseph Carlton, told him and photojournalist Sandy King, “I know you’re not here for my benefit! I know the devil sent you here.”

Pederson, who won a regional Emmy award and two Edward R. Murrow awards, has done additional reporting in the book and provides updates on several former “Seven on Your Side” subjects.

While some of the stories reach a satisfying end, with the scammer brought to justice, others still don’t have closure. Pederson recounts unsolved cases like the one involving contractor Johnny Rauch of Saline County, who was killed in 1998 by a package bomb that was delivered to his home. The case remains unsolved.

He isn’t shy about detailing some of the mistakes he has made during his career, from rushing to broadcast the names of car crash victims before getting a second source, and accidentally stepping into a live shot in the studio, to facing the wrath of Razorbacks fans after an ill-advised reply to a 2017 tweet from Jen Bielema, wife of then-Razorbacks head football coach Bret Bielema.

Pederson left journalism in 2019.

“I was about to turn 50,” he said. “All the reporters were half my age and I was feeling a little disconnected. I wasn’t burned out; I still enjoyed the job, but if I was ever going to make the leap, that was the time.”

He works now for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, where he is deputy chief of community engagement.

“I got out [of news] right before covid and the presidential politics and the racial unrest of 2020,” he says. “I missed all of that stuff, and I’m so glad I did. It was a tough time for journalists.

“I’m happy to be in state government. I’m still helping people through programs offered by DHS, it’s just helping in a different way.”

After finally getting the book out — he admits that not being under the constant deadlines he had in news was a hindrance — Pederson feels it has a wide reach. During a recent event at WordsWorth book store in Little Rock, he noticed the shelves of Arkansas-related books.

“It had history, true crime, biography,” he said. “This book has some of all of that. Anyone who likes Arkansas history and who has been a Channel 7 fan all of these years, it has a wide appeal and I hope they enjoy it.”