Is it time for Britain to impose controls on paparazzi photographers?
Ever since those “Dolce Vita” days on the Via Veneto in Rome when they ushered in the era of taking pictures of stars in flagrante by famously riling the exiled playboy King Farouk, the snappers on Lambrettas have plagued the rich and famous.
The last few years of Princess Diana and her death in 1997 opened the world’s eyes to how frantic the world of celebrity photography had become. More recent hounding of young royals and their girlfriends showed the public appetite for such pictures has not waned. Heather Mills McCartney says the media drive her close to suicide.
But shots of the caravan of paparazzi that pursued Britney Spears’ police motorcade to hospital last month will have seemed to many like a new low.
The obsession with Spears’ troubles even prompted one photographer, Nick Stern of the Los Angeles-based Splash agency, to resign, saying things were just getting too dangerous. Photographers’ cars — sometimes 20 or 30 of them — screaming down the wrong side of the road at speeds approaching 80 mph in pursuit of celebrity prey is now becoming quite normal, he said.
Still — we all look at the photos and there wouldn’t be such a plethora of celeb magazines if there was a general public unease about them.
Italy and France have tried to rein in the paparazzi. Should we follow suit, or is the genie too long out of the bottle — and would a law against intrusive photos of public figures be an unacceptable assault on press freedom?
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5 comments so far
Imposing restrictions on the paps is the wrong way to go but they need to be reined in and as soon as possible. Self-regulation will never work. How many newspapers said they would no longer use paparazzi photos in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s crash? How many are now back using them? The whole thing revolves around money. The paps know that they can get high prices for certain celebs because those celebs sell magazines. Every single person who has bought a newspaper or magazine that has used a paparazzi photo shares a collective responsibility for their intrusion into, and sometimes destruction of, the life of a real human being. You know what you have to do … stop buying the papers! Stop buying the magazines! Stop watching intrusive gossip-based TV shows. Let these people know that paps celeb photos WON’T sell more papers and they WON’T get a higher share of the viewers and they’ll give up like a shot. Don’t just sit and complain - you can make a difference.
- Posted by AlexBritain should follow in the steps of the French Government and call for a law that asks the press to respect the private life of the public, celebrities included. I feel sorry for celebs such as Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty, afterall, we would want to be left alone if we were in their shoes. Our obsession with the lives of celebrities has to stop, if not it’s only a matter of time before we see similar consequences to those caused the death of Diana Princess of Wales.
- Posted by CurtisNo new laws are required to reign in the paparazzi; instead current laws need to be enforced. When numerous paparazzi cars go screaming down the wrong side of the road at excessive speeds they are endangering the public and their celebrity target, and because the celebrity being aggressively pursued by paparazzi is being intentionally targeted by paparazzi when they are engaging in such dangerous actions, the paparazzi is not enjoying ‘freedom-of-the-press’ but engaging in illegal and threatening behavior. Such paparazzi should be arrested and charged with any and all crimes that they are committing. If it results in the injury or death of a celebrity or (G-d forbid) a royal family member (Princess Di), then these reckless paparazzi should be arrested and charged with the appropriate crime for causing injury or death.
- Posted by Reuben Goldenteinnot only should the paparazzi be banned but they should be be to death. I haven’t seen almost any “crimes” that celebreties have committed, that the paparazzi didn’t cause or at least help cause. from Brittney Spears’ break down to Michal Jackson’s dangling his baby out of a window. if they weren’t there it probably would nenver have happened. I am so sick of hearing about the paparazzi. Every time I hear about Russell Crowe or somebody kicking some Paparazzi’s ass I always say good for them, It’s just too bad their backs weren’t snapped in half during the process.
- Posted by mattalright. so. the paps do not need to die, come on now. isn’t that a little too intense? i mean, its their job, for goodness’ sakes. it is how they make a living. i do agree, however, that there should be some laws controlling the paparazzi to some extent. they are getting a little out of hand, but wishing someone the death sentence is too far out.
- Posted by ellie