A N G E L B A S C O M 1 3 FT O

FINAL REPORTPRIVACY VS THE PRESS

INTRODUCTION

The freedom of expression versus the right to privacy, investigating to what extent is it seen that the press have gone too far, how much public figures (celebrities) lives are invaded and what rights, laws and acts are in place in defense of both sides. I chose to do this subject as a choice for research because I felt that it was something that would be of interest and beneficial to know about –press/media laws. Especially seeing that there are so many social media sites available to this generation that allow us to look into the lives of public figures, almost like a ‘behind the scenes.’ Exclusive images or stories are able to spread faster and some people consider the press/media to be highly influential, they’ve the power to portray people almost as they please be it in a positive or negative light. I had felt that the key problems and ethical issues were that some celebrities both public and private lives were constantly in the eye of the public, in comparison to those referred to more as public figures, for instance, MPs, the royal family etc. Looking into the matter and investigate why that was the case and whether or not celebrities have much or any control over what is published.

Aside from looking into the individuals lives a sub question was how much if at all their family and close friends end up being involved in stories featured. I aimed to find out what the general public thought and if they felt as though a change should be made in the way celebrities lives are invaded and how this process happens. Also asking the public if they were aware of any protection laws or those in place that allow the press to post certain things.

What was the problem?

How much celebrities private and personal lives are separated in what the media publish. While also looking at how far the press can actually go when finding a story or photo to publish. Discovering the various laws and acts in place in the defense of both sides of the topic, letting myself be tolerant and see it from both points of views when undergoing my research.

HOW DID I RESEARCH

In order to carry out a balanced investigation, finding out as many things possible from a variety of sources, I used different researching techniques and methods.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

Secondary research was very useful as I could look into what was already out there and analyze it to expand my understanding, however, I also done some primary research to help me gather the public’s opinion on what I wanted to personally know about.

Beginning with secondary research, I searched through videos, newspaper articles, magazines, books, websites etc. anything else available for me to find out about laws, acts, rights, rules and regulations, particularly around the press - paparazzi. By using more than one type of research i.e. websites to videos, it meant that I could find out a broad amount of information picking out the important and necessary sections, ensuring that I made reference to each piece of secondary research. Once finding the information I debated the reliability of it – when published, who by, the company/individual etc.

PRIMARY RESEARCHI created a questionnaire (source 16)from which I was able to collect quantitative research from answers given, finding out demographics of those who participated which helped aid my research. Besides from this I also conducted a focus group I asked them several questions and showed them several clips regarding the press and celebrities, recording their answers and documenting the results on soundcloud and my blog. Some of the questions were subjective therefore creating a biased response from some participants, but this allowed me to compare the different opinions expressed.

IMPACT OF FOCUS GROUPS

As an additional piece of research to go alongside my focus group work, I found an actual case in which a focus group or ‘test screening’ had been used and was effective to the extent that it actually changed the outcome of the original piece of footage. By using an example of a test screening it allowed me to find various situations where the movie has been altered due to a test screening (another form of focus group.)

To the right shows where I have looked into another form of a focus group and researched the way in which it has changed the outcome of an original movie. Some where great changes, while others were considered ‘minor’ i.e. only the title changing.

RESULTS

Depending on the organization itself that is publishing information about celebrities the rules for journalists and paparazzi differ to what they must oblige to. However, overall the laws and rights in place would be the freedom of press aka freedom of the media that collides with the freedom of expression of communication, so that the press can publish a lot of material that they want to. In regards to celebrities, there’s the human rights act 1998 article 8 offering protection to a person’s private and family life. Article 5 – the right to liberty (the state of being free within society) everyone has a right to security and liberty something no one should be deprived to. These were facts found through secondary research referring back to yourrights.org.uk and wikipedia.co.uk.Via my controlled focus group, when I asked if anyone knew of any laws in place only 2 people out of the 6 were able to answer with solid information and background knowledge. This then raised to my attention that the public, teenagers especially are unaware of what human rights acts are in place for our private lives. Not only did I gather that they was unaware from the focus group but within the questionnaire 60% were aged 15-20 and could not answer whether or not the rules and regulations in place were effective.

WHAT LAWS, ACTS AND RULES ARE THERE?

WHAT LAWS, ACTS AND RULES ARE THERE?

To the left I have indicated where in my secondary research it refers to the human rights acts.

The majorities age of the questionnaire.

How these two link together, evidence showing that 50% of people were unsure of what the rules and regulations in place were

WHAT IS CLASSED AS PRIVACY?

There are overall privacy laws and rules in place which everyone has to abide by. However, when asking the public’s general opinion in a survey there were mixed responses to this question. As human’s we have the right to a private; family life, home and correspondence from arbitrary interference by the state. With acts like this it provides support to all no matter class, race, gender etc. From my various secondary research, it became clear to me that it was mainly paparazzi companies that didn’t highlight people’s rights to privacy, it was rarely stated. Although, when watching some clips of celebrities, and even celebrity lawyers, they would have their own contract formed that protects what they consider a private life. When the contract is breeched by the media is when cases are formed and the celebrities do sue, especially as nothing can legally be published without them being aware it is to be featured.

WHAT IS CLASSED AS PRIVACY

Above I have indicated what part of my research helped me draw the conclusion of what is classed as privacy and what may actually be published. Also the fact that the press use the freedom of expression do freely publish what they please. This was useful as it wasn’t from the general perspective of a celebrity or someone working in the press, but someone ( a lawyer) who must see it from both point of views when arguing or putting forward a case. Therefore they have taken in all the laws and rules in place before going through with any actions.

WHAT DO YOU CLASS AS PRIVACY

Phone hacking and harassments were key things that stood out when looking back at the answers provided. Many people shared the same view that your private life is your personal life and should be kept that way, when it especially regards their relationships and family it their own business in which the public shouldn’t need to know. ‘personal information, calls, emails, photos’ one person responded with, and this linked in well with my research on how celebrities lives have been highly invaded. Below is the information I found out about a phone hacking scandal in the USA amongst a variety of celebrities.

VIDEO'S

The video’s to me were the section of research where I could see and almost feel the emotion expressed through the individual. In my focus group I showed them several clips of celebrities being harassed by paparazzi and how the situations were handled depending on the people involved. Most of the clips featured the Kardashian family and Kanye West, I chose this family because they’re reality stars constantly in the eye of the public with various age groups, from babies to grown adults. It was useful to show real clips as it related to the secondary research regarding what the celebrities can do if they are harassed and it visually portrayed how their lives do get invaded. Within the focus group there was mixed opinions towards the various clips shown, although, what stood out for me was that when Kanye was shown as an aggressive arrogant person, many of the group felt that he fed into the pap’s trap and at times was un-necessarily rude towards them. Jameisha 18 stated “I wouldn’t react that way, the best way to react is to be boring and do what your doing… celebrities that over react it could be seen as a ploy to gain publicity.”Franco 18, “they are human they deserve privacy, when you enter the entertainment industry you become a public figure, people are clearly going to be interested in what you’re saying.” Rachel 17, “it’s going to happen obviously if you are out on the street, but as long as there not in their home then it’s not invading their full privacy.” Cassidy 17, “it works both ways, the celebs over react and the pap’s are just there doing their job.”

VIDEOS

In the video above as part of secondary research it portrayed a neutral point of view. It furthered my research because any comments made were then followed up by supporting evidence. A quite useful piece research as it was from an American speaking, therefore I was able to get a better insight into the laws in place for American celebrities, and some regarding the press within that country.

By showing celebrities reactions it combined with the opinions given from both the questionnaire and focus group. Because it was almost seeing the reality of what was asked, i.e. ‘does the victims age matter’ or ‘how far can the paparazzi go.’

CASE ANALYSISThe case analysis of Kate Middleton’s leaked photos was a relevant piece of research. It had me look into UK laws and a real life situation regarding the Royal family and how the press dealt with the issue at hand. The photos were removed from all newspapers and websites, which are the only course of action that I am aware of.

With the information found within this piece of research it mainly likes back to my secondary research sources 15 and 2 regarding the PCC and the human rights acts.

TO WHAT EXTENT CAN THE PRESS GO?56% of those asked felt that the celebrities lives should not be invaded. However, interestingly enough 38% felt that sometimes their lives should be invaded The victims age is relevant to how their lives would be invaded. There are child protection laws in place to prevent children from being exposed to the public.

I looked into this as relevant to the extent of the press, because age is something that plays a huge topic as to being a public figure, and also being harassed. Also, showing that some people actually did feel that celebrities lives should be invaded almost appears to support the freedom of press, from this I could conclude that these people are those who do take some sort of an interest into what they see published.

EVALUATION

In my opinion I feel as though my research topic has been highly beneficial to me, particularly as I was able to find out what different legal and ethical rights lye behind the media. Specifically looking at the privacy and freedom of the press because it could potentially be a part of my future career and I now have further information and background knowledge regarding the matter. The early stages of researching I found were the most successful as I was only just starting out it provided a ground root of information. I think that one of the most useful sources would be OFCOM, seeing as it is a well known and trusted organization their rules and regulations were clearly indicated with backed up evidence to support all that was stated. Another helpful piece of research, which I found to be quite conclusive would be the various videos. This was a qualitative piece, the videos covered news stories on what had lately been in the press, some celebrities' view points and one even featured a celebrity lawyer. By being able to see/hear various clips it meant that it differed from the typical article or website with one or two people who’ve published their findings or opinions. The videos added a sense of realism, being a non-academic source the content covered some psychographic information as attitudes, emotions etc. were displayed.

EVALUATIONOverall, I think that I did find out a lot, mainly to do with the privacy rules/laws/acts that are in place. I also found out how hard it is on celebrities who have families or don’t want the fame aspect of their career. It was useful looking at both sides of the arguments as some media companies did state that it is their business to deliver news or gossip stories, so in one way they’re merely doing there job. In my opinion I feel that the best piece of research was the secondary research as I could draw comparison’s to what was already out there and find things from all points of views on the matter.

Within my report I do make reference to the secondary research, and highlight the important parts which helped the most, usually when referring back to a sub question. However, too much time was spent on primary research and I found that I began to stumble across very similar pieces of information, repetition. But it was good to also look at other countries, which allowed me to come across new elements or sides of the arguments and see how other countries privacy and freedom of expression laws differ, i.e. USA, Australian and the UK. As I used a lot of information from the web, whenever checking the reliability I would also do a background check on the author. Some reliability is highly questionable as it was dated years/months ago or the author is unknown, or especially if the public have access to editing the page. My secondary research involved a fair amount of cross referencing as I wanted to stay neutral to the investigation. I also had a sort of method behind how I conducted the research, which was to look into the facts and laws first regarding privacy, then went into celebrity stories and varying view points etc. as shown on my blog.

EVALUATIONIt was beneficial to have primary research as a comparative source against my secondary research, it developed my understanding as I asked questions on what I had discovered to assets what people knew and what their opinions were. Some criticism towards my primary research would be that it is reliable because I personally carried it out and gained answers. However, a lot of it was based on people’s own individual opinions in comparison to solid facts that was available within the secondary research. Although that being said it was helpful and I could see the way others felt on the invasion of privacy to celebrities, how they would handle it and if they knew of any privacy laws/acts that are in place. When it came to choosing participants, I felt the question open to all to get a variety of answers and see whether age had a role to play of what they thought. It was an objective piece of research as I didn’t imply anything through my questions. Questionnaires were sent out via social media sites –facebook, tumblr and twitter, I felt this was a good method because as many people as possible could access the questionnaire and share their views. With my focus group I used teenagers 17-18 of mixed gender, studying within the field of media hoping to branch out to different careers. This was good as I could see what this current generations thoughts were and especially those who want to go into the media profession. I tried my best to stay neutral in the discussion so it wasn’t subjective, at most I would agree or disagree or simply explain more about what was being asked. In conclusion I feel that the focus group was the better piece of primary research as it was discussion based and offered examples of footage for them to judge. The length was just right as it lasted just under 20 minutes.

EVALUATION

As another piece of research method for my primary research I done a case analysis, this meant looking into and evaluating a real life situation where a public figures privacy had been breached and what organization's/laws helped for them to take action against the specific media company.I looked into depth regarding the Kate Middleton leaked topless photos and what action took place against those. In my research I found that it was only the Middleton’s who complained about the photos being published and in fact, no magazine’s had published the images, mainly well known newspapers. If I could change anything about the case study it would be to get more solid fact around the dates and times the incident occurred as many sites I tried were vague regarding that. However, in doing a case analysis I feel it enabled me to cage more of an understanding of my research and be able to identify when someone’s privacy has been breached.

EVALUATION

All in all the research went well and I found out a lot of things I was unaware of and it was good to then be informed of them all. However, I would have liked to gain an interview with someone who works either as a journalist, paparazzi, personal assistant to a celebrity, and a celebrity. Having a one on one interview with either of these people would have allowed me to get a fresh opinion and see how they deal with their job. So I would see this as an inconclusive result as from an interview, I could bounce of their response and even think of questions I may have not thought of before. Although overall I am sure I know of the laws and acts especially that are in place in the UK and the legality behind publishing a story about a celebrity. In conclusion I think that the research was balanced and from doing this final report I was able to cross reference and draw comparisons to what I found out in the secondary and primary research. As previously mentioned, my topic was interesting to me and I think it was a good choice to have chosen.

WEBOGRAPHY

- Source 14: http://www.pointparkglobe.com/opinions/privacy-privilege-not-granted-to-celebrities-1.1813203#.Umz47xb7U00

- Source 13: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/celebrity-privacy-invasion-scarlett-johansson-more-celeb-victims-170400559.html

- Source 12: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/7714/librarytrendsv39i1-2h_opt.pdf?sequence=1

- Source 11: http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/national-privacy-principles 

- Source 10: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/diana/10249758/Key-events-surrounding-deaths-Diana-Princess-of-Wales-and-Dodi-Fayed.html

- Source 9: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/paparazzi-boundaries_n_2473951.html 

- Source 8: http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/~rca/articles/Privacy-Ethical%20%20Legal%20Considerations-CLR.pdf