Paparazzi: How Far is Too Far?

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The term paparazzo is defined as “a freelance photographer who pursues celebrities to get photographs of them.” (Definition of paparazzo, 2011) The name originated from the last name of a photographer in the 1960 film La Dolce Vita. (Green) Yet the meaning from the word paparazzo denotes a stronger meaning than just a freelance photographer. The paparazzi are notorious for their persistent and annoying personalities who will go through any measure to get the shot that they wish for.

The main targets of the paparazzi are the celebrities who enchant the public. The public’s obsession with that person encourages the paparazzi to pursue the celebrity and encourages them to participate in acceptable invasive antics. It is only when harm occurs that the public is outraged by the paparazzi’s newsgathering techniques.

A notable example of inappropriate intrusion involved the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, who were killed on August 31 1997 in a high-speed car chase in Paris, France while being chased by the paparazzi. The death brought a lot of criticism to the media and its newsgathering techniques, especially those by the paparazzi. The media’s attention to celebrities has caused a loss of privacy and a skewed view on private and public issues for celebrities. This loss comes from the categorization of celebrities as public figures, meaning their every day lives are subject to an extensive scrutiny unlike an average person. The public thrives on the intrusion into the lives of celebrities because of their obsession with wanting to know every bit of gossip. The paparazzi fulfill this fixation by gathering the information that the public longs to consume.

The methods of the paparazzi are condemned as invading th...

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... the courts and the press.

Works Cited

Definition of paparazzo. In (2011). Oxford Dictionary Online Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/paparazzo?region=us

Siegel, P. (2002). Communication law in America. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Pember, D., & Calvert, C. (2011). Mass media law. (Vol. 17, p. 243). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Middleton, K., Lee, W., & Chamberlin, B. (2005). The law of public communication. (2005 ed., p. 182). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Nordhaus, J. Celebrities' rights to privacy: How far should the press have to go?. Retrieved from http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/ogandy/c734 resources/celebrities rights - nordhaus.pdf

Green, P. (n.d.). Where does the word paparazzi come from?. Retrieved from http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/where-paparazzi-term-come-from

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