Essay #9: "Are famous people treated unfairly by the media? Should they be given more privacy, or is the price of their fame an invasion into their private lives?"

 TMZ, ONTD, PEP – these are not just senseless letters put together, nor are they some sort of IM language like "LOL" but rather, they are celebrities’ worst nightmare come to life! Tabloids, gossip blogs and talk shows are just some of the ways ordinary people get a glimpse of the glitz and glamour of the celebrity life. With the advent of social networking, prying to the personal lives of superstars and high profile individuals are becoming easier by the second.

  These celebrities should be given privacy. In fact, many celebrities' lives are destroyed because of these paparazzi. Celebrities also endure the shame and embarrassment whenever they are caught on camera unexpectedly. These paparazzi will not stop until they will get something out of this people even though they are already rude to them. The paparazzi should be careful when it comes to interviewing celebrities. Celebrities may be rich, but they also have feelings and should be given privacy.

 
Take for instance the two Australian DJ’s who prank called King Edward VII Hospital where Duchess Catherine of Cambridge was confined for severe morning sickness, with the intention of obtaining details on her alleged pregnancy. The receptionist and Kate’s nurse fell ill to this foolish prank and gave away privileged information about Kate’s condition. The radio station argued that such ploys have been done by countless of radio stations before and is just a harmless fun joke. However, nobody could foreseen that the nurse involved would actually take her life away just for a supposedly harmless trick.

 Instances like this make me wonder, how far is too far? I know that there is a very thin line between information gathering and interfering with someone’s private life. If a simple prank call can lead a person to commit suicide then how are we to say that paparazzi stalking or twitter bashing is okay? They say that the prize of fame is an inside scoop on your personal life. I mean, aren't the media/paparazzi’s just doing their job trying to find the next big headline or in our generation, the latest top trending topic? 

 But the thing is, while celebrities are indeed public figures they do not owe the viewing public a play by play of their daily lives. They may share bits and pieces of who they are outside of their famous lifestyle but their main job is to entertain or serve the public (in the case of politicians and royals). Although gossiping about them is kind of amusing at times, they are also human beings with rights that entitle them to a certain degree of privacy.

Photo Credits:

http://go.ninemsn.com.au/img/headers/tmz_600x300.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/12/07/article-2244608-166674D9000005DC-222_634x580.jpg

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/23/article-1269345918986-08D5D284000005DC-923193_568x650.jpg