The news media has been a serial culprit of invasions of privacy, which it attempts to dismiss by claiming that it is only doing its job. That is unethical. There is a distinction to be made between “gathering information” and “prying,” and determining where that line should be drawn is not difficult. Here are some examples of when the media has absolutely failed to do so.
- While watching Virat Kohli play from the stands, a media journalist aimed their camera on Anushka Sharma and her daughter Vamika Kohli. Despite the couple’s repeated demands for privacy, Vamika’s face was caught, and her photos quickly became viral, which is something internet users should consider.
Anushka and Virat have every right to display their opinions on matters relating to them or their daughter. Stop the moral policing ffs.
β ALASKAπ« (@Aaaaaaftab) January 24, 2022
I mean what part of “caught off guard” do you guys not understand? She’s taken Vamika to test matches too. There the camera wasn’t on them!
2. Britney Spears gave birth to her first child in her mid-twenties, and the media did not let her any rest or solitude. The paparazzi followed her inside a restaurant as she cried with her months-old boy in her arms in one especially distressing event.
Britney Spears was carrying her baby and pregnant with her second child when she was chased by over 300 paparazzi. She ran into a cafe hoping the manager would help but they laughed and took pictures of her crying. Weβre all to blame. #FreeBritney #Paparazzi #PressAbuse pic.twitter.com/5McMhs47vH
β π―πππππππ π³ππππππ (@daniellehindley) May 1, 2021
3. Princes Diana literally died trying to run away from media, and one would’ve thought that the endlessly unfortunate accident would change the way news is produced and consumed. But no, that did not happen.
4. Rhea Chakraborty was suffering with the suicide of her lover, Sushant Singh Rajput, when the media not only accused her of being the cause of his death, but also followed her around like vultures whenever she went out.
5. Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza’s wedding was extensively politicised, with the media stationed outside the tennis player’s home at all times, capturing anything they could. They’d set up zoom lenses about the house and photograph the couple and their families inside.
6. Prior to the release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, photos of Tom Holland and Zendaya kissing in a car began circulating on the internet. But no one considered how the actors would react. Later, when asked about the photos, Tom said:
One of the downsides of our fame is that privacy isnβt really in our control anymore, and a moment that you think is between two people that love each other very much is now a moment that is shared with the entire world. Iβve always been really adamant to keep my private life private, because I share so much of my life with the world anyway…(it felt like we were) sort of felt robbed of our privacy.
7. As an inconsolable Shehnaz Gill wailed during Sidharth Shukla’s burial, the media aimed cameras into the car window. Some photographers even went inside the crematorium to take shots. The images are still available on the internet.
Speaking on the matter, Shefali Jariwala noted:
Sidharth was a very private person, as so is his mother; making such a spectacle of his passing was really disturbing to see. It is not something that he would have wanted.
At the funeral, it was a circus. I was so angry to see the way people hounded Shehnaaz Gill. It was not right. Shehnaaz, Sidharth Shukla’s mother and sisters are grieving. You have to give them the space and privacy to do so-@shefalijariwala https://t.co/Up2KelkTKp
β Fenil Seta (@fenil_seta) September 10, 2021
8. Back in 2017, A UK court had ordered the French magazine Closer to pay β¬100,000 to Kate Middleton and Prince William for publishing topless pictures of the Duchess taken without her knowledge.
The incident was described as “grotesque and totally unjustifiable” by the couple’s spokesperson, who also stated that “the incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to the Duke and Duchess for being so.”
