Capturing Celebrities - Violations of Privacy and Damage to Reputations of Public Figures in the Entertainment Industry
Emily Schopfer
HO 496 Thesis/Capstone Completion
Monmouth University
My Capstone asks why inhumane treatment of entertainers by the press occurs. My guiding question was initially, ‘Is the solution to this issue a legal one, an ethical one, both, or something else altogether?’ This question then grew until I was asking if all journalism deserves equal freedoms and could this undermine the First Amendment, is this a few bad journalists, a corrupted field, or are journalists just fulfilling public desires. The importance of this project is that it addresses the questions of if all journalism is created equal, do we value freedom of press more than freedom to live privately without tarnished reputations, and why exactly do we few public figures as less human? My methodology consisted of finding a variety of sources and then using selected ones as examples in my Capstone artworks. I conclude that there are no obvious solutions, but acknowledging the existence of this problem, however, can be the first step towards remedying it. In simply asking, I found that the legal burden of proof and societal views of celebrities both are large factors in this issue, and if the solution is to start granting different protections to different forms of journalism, it may cause more issues than it solves.
Emily Schopfer © - Adobe Illustrator
Emily Schopfer © - Adobe Illustrator
Emily Schopfer © - Adobe Illustrator
Emily Schopfer © - Adobe Illustrator
