The Credibility Of Celebrities

A single photograph- how it is captured, the angle in which it was shot, the context behind it- can alter the perception of reality. One image, if executed maliciously, can create such an intense pernicious effect on the individual photographed, that is can cause undue affects on their reputation, or even psychological state. Celebrities often find themselves victimized by the paparazzi in this way, and breakdowns due to a negative appearance in the spotlight have become prevalent in modern day socialite culture. In the age of media and digitized everything, it’s surprisingly easy to find intimate details of a celebrity’s life, and even easier to find incriminating photos with falsified headlines. THESIS Celebrities often find themselves subjected

Is the material they gather news-worthy? In terms of their new-gathering habits, City of Oak Creek v. Ah King held that the press has no immediate right to information outside of the spectrum of public knowledge. On the other hand, in order for information and photographs generated by the paparazzi to be news-worthy, it must be a balance of three standards: whether the image is a value to society, how far intrusion went into private affairs, and to what extent the party assumed the role of public notoriety. Once deemed newsworthy, the press ultimately has the right to publish it to the general public. With paparazzi easily crossing the boundary into what is technically deemed newsworthy, the lines between actual news and entertainment has been blurred. The judiciary has been blamed for this, as they have been promoting the trend by not readily distinguishing between the interest and curiosity of the public. Until the curiosity craving has been curbed, the media and paparazzi will continue to view their photographs and information as newsworthy (Nordhaus 292-295). The paparazzi’s methods in photographing are borderline appropriating to celebrities. The news-gathering attempts of the paparazzi can sometimes reach levels that are borderline appropriation of celebrities. Paparazzi and tabloids claim the photographs taken are in fact used in legitimate news stories, and ultimately benefit from these privacy violating photos as the celebrities on the cover provide profit and sales. By law a photo is only deemed appropriation when the image is used in a way that draws attention in a way that is unrelated to the article, or is in no way legitimate news (305-306). By code of ethics, when the celebrity is being constantly followed by paparazzi in order to gain the perfect shot, that is crossing into the realm of appropriation. If the paparazzi’s attempts to make a profit are hindering