Stars in Issue

Pre-reading Discussion

1) Explain your position when talking about paparazzi¡¦s job. Is their job legal? If it is, is it ethical?
2) Explain the limit that shouldn¡¦t be crossed by paparazzi¡¦s: how far is too far?
3) Do you think celebrities deserve the ¡§punishment¡¨ of being persecuted by paparazzis?

Ever heard the saying, "stardom is not all it is cracked up to be?" Many famous idols including movie stars, music singers, royalty and any other group that is consistently in the "lime light" are re-evaluating the role of the media in their private lives. The paparazzi are a sub-set of the media who try and take pictures of celebrities to sell to Tabloids. It is the paparazzi that many blame for the recent death of Princess Diana of Whales.1  Paparazzi, a word popularized by Federico Fellini, means a freelance photographer. The paparazzi are extreme reporters who will do almost anything to get pictures of celebrities at the most inopportune times. The job of the paparazzi is to give the tabloids the gossip the need to satisfy the rest of the insatiably curious world.  According to David Schonauer, an editor of the American Photo, "The paparazzi are the people we send out to punish the rich and famous for being rich and famous." The two sides to this every increasing battle are the paparazzi, whose livelihood is these pictures or reports, and the celebrities.2  According to some there is another possible side to the argument which involves the people who buy the tabloid magazines. They may be a contributing factor since they are the ones for whom the paparazzi are taking the pictures. The question that plagues these groups is, legally and morally,  where do the rights of the press end and of the individual begin?3         This paradox has probably been around since the first reporters and famous people to report on.  For the paparazzi there has been a lot of recent backlash from celebrities and those who side with them. For most of the paparazzi these pictures are their livelihood. They support their own families by these pictures. The need for news is still recognized by most, but just what news to print is where the paparazzi find their niche.4  According to Sinorama  "the knowledge that an article may potentially influence millions of readers determines the attitude and the style of news people."  Most of the paparazzi want respect and would much rather see their work in Time, Newsweek, or Life magazines than in tabloids. Many paparazzi believe that it is their legal right to photograph whomever and whenever they want in public. And still more recognize the power of the media in the lives of all people. Think: where do you find out a lot of your information not learned in school or by personal experience, newspapers, television, magazines, tabloids, the Internet?  How did you find out about the death of Princess Di?5  How did Arizona find out about Fife Symington's illegal operations? Again Sinorama sums it up nicely by saying, "If the media does its job well, its power can be tremendous.  It can be a fourth estate, overseeing the government, one in addition to the traditional branches."6  But again the question becomes, where does the right of these reporters end and the rights of the interviewees begin?         A lot of celebrities including Robert DeNiro, Woody Harrelson, Alec Baldwin, Princess Diana, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, Dean Cain, Tom Cruise, John F. Kennedy Jr. and countless others have had disagreeable run-ins with the paparazzi or similar reporters.  There have been many court cases over the right to take pictures and the right of the celebrities to retaliate. All of these stars have felt that their private lives have been violated. After Paul Riser had a film taken of him and his infant son at home he had this to say, "Having someone sneak around your home to photograph your child makes you feel violated. Those who take these pictures know in their heart that certain intrusions are just wrong" (Castro 73). Many idols are taking things into their own hands and physically confronting such paparazzi. Woody Harrelson, Will Smith, Alen Baldwin, Nicole Kidman have all had physical confrontations with paparazzi. Other such as George Clooney have taken other measures by boycotting shows such as Hard Copy and its sister show Entertainment Tonight, until something is done about the obsessive paparazzi. Steve Wulf, a journalist for Time magazine has called these paparazzi "a new breed of vidiorazzi, who enrich themselves by enraging celebrities".  Phil Ramey, a celebrity photographer, has referred to himself and his colleagues as "cummerazzi.".        Though there is still much to be done to make both sides happy there is work being done to disarm the situation. Hard Copy announced that it would not use footage that was "unauthorized footage" or footage that is known to have been obtained illegally. There are those that believe that no matter what done there will always be people such as the paparazzi as long as people are willing to buy tabloid magazines. Just because the public has a right to know means that celebrities will continue to be harassed. Most paparazzi put their journalistic duties before their moral ones.  Work Cited Page  Castro, Peter. "Stalking Heads."  People Weekly. 11 November 1996: 71-73.  "Remembering the original  'paparazzo'." The Detroit News.  17 September 1997.          <http://detnews.com/1997/accent/9709/01/09010021.htm>  (1 September 1997) .  Span, Paula. "Click! A Picture of the Paparazzi."  Washington Post. 3 November 1992,           C4+  "The Fall from Grace of the Taiwan's Media." Sinorama. 16 September 1997.          <http://houston.roc-taiwan.org/info/sinorama/en/8607/607016e2.html>  (July 1997).  Wulf, Steve.  "Lights, Camera, Reaction." Time Magazine.  13 November 1995: 102.  After reading discussion 1) What is the job of a paparazzi? Is it to be a freelance photographer? Or is it to punish the rich and famous? Or something else? Explain your reasoning and use facts from the article to support your argument. 2) Why is there a need for the paparazzi? Do you really need to know about the life of someone you may never get to know personally, which may also cause them their lives? Do you base your life on the life of others? Think of these questions and other similar questions when you are answering this question. For the original text, please visit  http://www.public.asu.edu/~aconyer/evalpap.htm.