Do Public Figures Have The Right To Privacy? Essay, Research Paper

This is a very well documented debate, especially after the tragic death of the Princess of Wales. I feel that there is no right and wrong answer. People and the press have to look at individual circumstances and decide whether it is relevant to a high enough degree to pry into other people’s lives

The death of Princess Diana was a prime example. It was an ironic tragedy as well as extremely unfortunate because the most photographed women in the world, and probably the most well known was killed in a horrific car crash as well as allegedly being chased by the Parisian, French and international paparazzi. A woman constantly hounded by the press wants eventually, allegedly, killed by their hounding. This is an extreme example, but it has happened and other people may not die but their lives still may be affected in a bad way. Public figures such as sport stars should have their own privacy and be left alone with the press not always trying to find out something about them, but also the sports stars must realise that they are in the public eye, even if they do not like it this all comes with the job they are in. So they have to behave in a responsible way because young children will copy them, so whatever they do children will copy their action off the field as well as on. This is all part of being a star, so pictures of them in nightclubs at two o’clock in the morning, snorting cocaine, such as the Blue Peter presenter, or committing adultery does influence the general public. The paparazzi on the other hand, especially in Britain, are extremely nosy, rude and will do whatever it

takes to get that photograph and I think that there are like this because

they work independently so that they earn their living through being photographers therefore they need to pry. I think that newspapers and magazines should not work off independent photographers but should employ someone payed by their own company to take the photographs, otherwise the stars will keep being harassed by hordes of photographers. It is all very well blaming the paparazzi though, but this would not happen if the general public did not want to know about it so I feel that stars will always be hounded but restrictions should be made so it is done to a much lesser degree.