Behind The Scenes :: essays research papers fc

BEHIND THE SCENESIn the aftermath of the untimely goal of Princess Diana a timeworn issue re-plays itself like a tired re-run of &8220The Honeymooners. Does the media go too far? Maybe. But like any other commodity, cut and demand go hand and glove. Whether a high profile honor or an every-day Joe, we sit glued to our chairs as the nightly news sombrely announces society&8217s latest barbarity. We eagerly snatch up the tabloids as these mudslingers breathlessly divulge their version of the most recent Hollywood prate. The fact is that America has become obsessed with the goings on in other nation&8217s lives. Greedy consumers of the firstborn Amendment, we march defiantly under the pennant of our &8220right to know, but do we have just cause? Differences and difficulties in interpretation have characterized much of the later history of the First Amendment and historians slip by to debate what the nation&8217s founders meant to include when they wrote that there shall be &8 220no law abridging the freedom of speech or press. Today the U. S. Supreme Court blindly inches its way across the tightrope of censorship. Laws prohibiting obscenity and indecency have been successfully compound and public sentiment has historically served to curtail the over-zealous journalist. However the moral persona of society has degen whileted from its once prim and proper past, and the press now vulgarly oversteps the boundaries of decency with little retribution. In the words of Chief Justice Warren Burger, &8220The First Amendment should non be interpreted to include the protection of frivolous gossip that &8220lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (Grolier Encyclopedia 1996, Miller v. California). The People&8217s &8220right to know does not justify the growing abuse of our right to independence of the Press. The negative effect upon today&8217s society is only beginning. Tabloids not only thrive on they encourage the invasion of privacy. In an era defined by celebrity worship, Americans have become increasingly bighearted of what is acceptable concerning media coverage of celebrities&8217 private lives. It is unfortunate that Princess Diana died for a blurry picture, a pointless snap from a speeding motorcycle. Dodging tabloid photographers she was simply trying to preserve some privacy by holding backwards the media intrusion. In the sixteen years since her marriage, she became not only the most famous woman in the world, but the only personality who consistently sell big in the global marketplace (Alter, Dying 39).