Press Freedom

Press freedom has been a heated topic for quite some time, especially regarding sensitive topics such as shadowing the lives of celebrities. The press and celebrities are two things that cannot survive without each other. For the media to survive, they need to feed their audience with what they want to hear- gossip. Although many celebrities crave the private life, one may ask, how would they get anywhere without all the publicity they receive? Undoubtedly, the press hounds famous people to such an extent, that every single detail of their personal life is known to the world. Any avid reader is sure to know the tens of celebrities and politicians who have lost spouses and families because of their affairs being made public by sneaky reporters. A recent incident in the Philippines shed some light on the boundaries between press freedom and the right to privacy. The bedlam in NAIA involving Claudine Barretto, her husband Raymart Santiago and Ramon Santiago is a case worth studying. A fight broke out and for the rest of the week; the conservative Filipinos were abuzz with the news of the unruly celebrities. The unfortunate incident at NAIA brought anew to public attention the issue on whether there is a border between a public personality’s private life and media’s right to peek into it. The stress of having to constantly live up to public expectation is obviously daunting for well-known people as every step of their life has to be well thought of before even attempting it.

On the flip side of the coin, however, a person will only receive respect once he/she has earned it. Whether the press receives this appalling amount of freedom or not, a person’s exemplary character will always save him/her from disgrace. If politicians and celebrities really deserve to be in the positions that they are in (most of them are role models to young people) they should earn that respect by living up to the name and not making wrong moves that will make headlines for all the