Media & Invasion of Privacy
LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
A TERM PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE:
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTISE (MAC 854)
LECTURER: DR. JIMI KAYODE
TITLE: MEDIA AND THE INVASION OF PRIVACY
BY
AKANDE ADEFEYISAYO ADEBOLARINWA
• SUBMITTED ON 30th JANUARY, 2010
INTRODUCTION
Media practitioners possess the function of gathering, processing and disseminating news item to a heterogeneous large audience which often times not done with sound moral judgement in mind lands them into pool of troubled waters. Celebrities, politicians and other sought-after sources of news have over time expressed justifiable anguish over the diminishing aspects of their lives that are no longer free from prying eyes and publication from the press. They routinely assert that members of the media violates their privacy based strictly on their need to publish any news story that comes their way for the main purpose of profit and simply can not distinguish what type of information is private, public or newsworthy.
Journalists, however, often possess diverse concepts of privacy and newsworthiness, and know that the issue is more complicated based on the fact that reporting news stories in a way that serves and informs the public will often require publicizing details or displaying images that will mortify or anger someone.
To make privacy issues even more complicated for journalists, courts constantly redefine what is private based upon interpretations of the elusive legal standard of a "reasonable expectation of privacy.( www.winning-newsmedia.com/privacy) “The U.S. Supreme Courts scolding of the media in the 1999 "ride along" cases for a perceived inattention to the privacy rights of the people featured in the news most likely reflects the current attitude of many judges and lawmakers and, thus, underscores the importance for journalists to be aware of general
A TERM PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE COURSE:
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTISE (MAC 854)
LECTURER: DR. JIMI KAYODE
TITLE: MEDIA AND THE INVASION OF PRIVACY
BY
AKANDE ADEFEYISAYO ADEBOLARINWA
• SUBMITTED ON 30th JANUARY, 2010
INTRODUCTION
Media practitioners possess the function of gathering, processing and disseminating news item to a heterogeneous large audience which often times not done with sound moral judgement in mind lands them into pool of troubled waters. Celebrities, politicians and other sought-after sources of news have over time expressed justifiable anguish over the diminishing aspects of their lives that are no longer free from prying eyes and publication from the press. They routinely assert that members of the media violates their privacy based strictly on their need to publish any news story that comes their way for the main purpose of profit and simply can not distinguish what type of information is private, public or newsworthy.
Journalists, however, often possess diverse concepts of privacy and newsworthiness, and know that the issue is more complicated based on the fact that reporting news stories in a way that serves and informs the public will often require publicizing details or displaying images that will mortify or anger someone.
To make privacy issues even more complicated for journalists, courts constantly redefine what is private based upon interpretations of the elusive legal standard of a "reasonable expectation of privacy.( www.winning-newsmedia.com/privacy) “The U.S. Supreme Courts scolding of the media in the 1999 "ride along" cases for a perceived inattention to the privacy rights of the people featured in the news most likely reflects the current attitude of many judges and lawmakers and, thus, underscores the importance for journalists to be aware of general
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