Invasion of Privacy by News Media - Coursework Example

INVASION OF PRIVACY BY NEWS MEDIA By Name Institution Lecturer Course Date Invasion Of Privacy By News Media Introduction Privacy issues in the news media have been one of the ethical issues under discussion for many years. This is mostly happening for public figures whose privacy is breached by the news media in reporting news. According to Nassir (2013), privacy is where an individual life issues and information is kept secret in order to preserve the private life of the individual. However, in the news media, media freedom has been the major issue that c is currently competing with the privacy of individual’s especially public figure in most parts of the world including the United States and Europe. A salacious detail of the private lives of public figures is among the central contents in the news media. Although some of the information published by the news media is true, it does not mean that the publication of the news is justified. Different laws and regulations have been formulated by different governments in order to regulate the invasion of privacy by the news media. This is because the invasion of privacy is in competition with the freedom of the individual and the public interest in the dissemination of information. This means that the interest of the public is also influential in the invasion of privacy in order to deliver news in regard to public figures (Ess, 2009, p. 12). It is important to discuss invasion of privacy since it affects the dissemination of information to the public as well as affecting the media freedom and personal lives of the public figures. This paper focuses on the ethical consideration of the invasion of privacy by the news media. Analysis Concepts in Privacy Invasion In discussing the philosophical and ethical concepts of invasion of privacy by news media, is important for different individuals understand the meaning of privacy in regard to news media. In addition, this will help in the understanding g of the value of privacy the human lives and the society at large. Privacy can be defined as the ability to control the people who have access to information in our private life and private matters. This means that people who access personal information without the permission of the individuals are breaching or invading the privacy of such individuals. Privacy allows the human population to be able to maintain different levels of information social relationships especially with different individuals. This is based on the ability to control our behaviours as well as the type of information that individuals are willing and able to share with the public. Hence, privacy is just the same as claims, about an individual which are not supposed to be watched, listened to or even reported without leave and have no public attention focused to it. Therefore, the value of privacy and the intrusion of privacy by the news media are grounded on the Kantian principle of respect for different people as the rational choosers. This is because unauthorised observations are interfering with the choices of the individual. Therefore, the privacy of an individual is necessary for individual liberty since it allows them to control situations in which they are involved and the intimacy with others (Whitehouse, 2010, p. 312). Utilitarian Analysis of Invasions of Privacy by the News Media The utilitarianism analysis of invasion of privacy by news media involves the analysis of the harms and benefits that are brought about by the invasion of the invasion of privacy. This means that the reporters and news media should be able to identify the potential harms that are associated with the invasion of privacy. It is not ethical for the news media to invade the privacy of an individual public figure since it may lead to loss of trust and loss of reputation of the editor, reporter of the media house. This is because people who identify themselves with the public figure may feel offended hence failing to respect the reporter for intrusion. This implies that many individuals will not be willing to contribute to public news with the reporter especially when these people also fear that their private lives may also be made public. Intrusion of private life or information may lead to a negative perception of the media organization by different human right organization as well as the individuals who are on the same level as the one whose information is made public. In addition, the utilitarian model argues that the news media organization will lose trust from its audience hence may end up losing credible sources in terms of searching for news as well as other news people. There are some legal implications that may negatively affect the intrusion of privacy to the media house and the individual. This is because privacy invasion by the news media is seen to degrade the public discourse in such a way that it is seen to damage the whole community (Drushel, 2011, p. 159). Apart from the fact that privacy intrusion is seen as unethical since it interferes with the private life of an individual or organization, there are different benefits which results from privacy invasion. It is the right of the public to be informed of the happenings in the country especially when the activities are of public interest. According to Bugeja (2008), the news media is justified to intrude the privacy of an individual or organisation in order to give vital and important information to the public. There are times when the public has the right to know the things that affect the society especially when the public figures are expected to be role models of the society. This implies that the public has the right to know about the bad things that happen in the society. Privacy intrusion is seen as a form of empowering the public. According to the transfer of power model, privacy is seen as a way of having control over any information. However, the access to this power is only beneficial when the community is benefiting from kit rather than causing harm to the individual. According to Overbeck & Belmas (2011), privacy invasion is beneficial to the public in situations where the public wants to elect a new political leader. This means that the media can broadcast on the private life of the politician in order to give information to the public so that they can make wise decisions during voting times. Therefore, in private invasion by the news media, there is the need for the reporters and editors being able to carefully analyse the harmful effects and the benefits of the information to the public as well as the ethical implications of the information. This means that the utilitarian analysis requires fairness and impartiality in order to justify the invasion of privacy. Application of this model is based on the fact that the benefits of invading the privacy of the individual outweigh the harm of invasion. This is because public figures are negatively affected when their personal lives are disclosed to the public. This affects the relationship of the public with the public figure and the news media organizations (Overbeck & Belmas, 2011, p. 56). A Kantian Analysis of Privacy Invasion The Kantian model states that the actions of any individual are guided by the moral laws which are applied in a universal manner. According to Kantian model, there are two imperative formulas that guide the morals of the society and what can be termed as god will. Firstly, the Kantian model argues that people should be able to “act only from moral rules that you can at the same time will to be universal moral laws”. This means that in the process of intruding a person’s privacy, the news media should apply moral concepts in doing so. Secondly, the Kantian model argues that people should “act so that you always treat both yourself and other people as ends in themselves and never as a means to an end”. This means that it is unethical for one individual to intrude on the privacy of another individual. According to the first principle of Kantian model, the news media are not justified to intrude into the private affairs of public figures (Wood, 2008, p. 44). However, applying the rules universally would mean that the news media can only invade the privacy of public figure and other individuals for their own benefits. According to the universal rule, stalking an individual is seen as an ethical way as long as it benefits the individual. Invading the privacy of an individual treats the individual as a means of interfering with their personal information. This suggests that their respect does not respect and their dignity lowered. When the news media invade the privacy of the individual it means that the subject of the report is merely to further the aims of the reporting organization instead of respecting the dignity of the individual. Although it is the responsibility of the news media to provide news to the public, invasion of privacy by the news media is a violation of the principle of respect for individuals (Drushel, 2011, p. 233). However, the Kantian model argues that invading the privacy of an individual by the news media is justified through a clear demonstration of public need for the information that is made public. The application of this model should begin with the presumption that news reports that are invading the privacy of public figures should be based on the respect of such individuals. According to this model when there is no connection between the private information and the information and consumer decision the invasion of privacy by the news media is not justified (Wood, 2008, p. 67). Conclusion Privacy if the individual’s especially public figure is of great value both to the individuals and the communities. This is crucial for the exercise of individual liberty, control of individual actions, and protection of individual power over their information. The invasion of private life by the news media has become the centre of ethical debate due to lack of ethical consideration on the matter. According to the utilitarian model, invasion of privacy by the news media should be based on weighing g the benefits of invasions over the adverse effects. This means that news media are only justified to invade the private life of an individual if the public benefits most. The Kantian model argues that the news media are only justified in invading the private life of public figure and other individuals when there is the need to do so. Therefore, news reporters are only justified to invasion of privacy when there is public demand for the information. The ethical models presented in this paper suggest that the invasion of privacy by the news media may be justified, but may not be morally justified. Therefore, invasion of privacy by the news media is only allowed when there is a moral justification. References Bugeja, M., 2008. Living ethics. New York: Oxford University Press. Christians, C., 2010. The ethics of privacy. In C. Meyers (Ed.), Journalism ethics: A philosophical approach (pp. 203–214). New York: Oxford University Press. Drushel, B., & German, K., 2011. The Ethics of Emerging Media: Information, Social Norms, and New Media Technology. New York: Continuum. Ess, C., 2009. Digital Media Ethics. Oxford: Polity. Nassir, M., 2013. Media Ethics – Why & How? Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, vol. 4, no. 11, pp. 224-236. Overbeck, W., & Belmas, G., 2011. Major Principles of Media Law. Connecticut: Cengage Learning Whitehouse, G., 2010. Newsgathering and Privacy: Expanding Ethics Codes to Reflect Change in the Digital Media Age. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 310–327. Wood, A., 2008. Kantian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Read More

Hence, privacy is just the same as claims, about an individual which are not supposed to be watched, listened to or even reported without leave and have no public attention focused to it. Therefore, the value of privacy and the intrusion of privacy by the news media are grounded on the Kantian principle of respect for different people as the rational choosers. This is because unauthorised observations are interfering with the choices of the individual. Therefore, the privacy of an individual is necessary for individual liberty since it allows them to control situations in which they are involved and the intimacy with others (Whitehouse, 2010, p. 312). Utilitarian Analysis of Invasions of Privacy by the News Media The utilitarianism analysis of invasion of privacy by news media involves the analysis of the harms and benefits that are brought about by the invasion of the invasion of privacy.

This means that the reporters and news media should be able to identify the potential harms that are associated with the invasion of privacy. It is not ethical for the news media to invade the privacy of an individual public figure since it may lead to loss of trust and loss of reputation of the editor, reporter of the media house. This is because people who identify themselves with the public figure may feel offended hence failing to respect the reporter for intrusion. This implies that many individuals will not be willing to contribute to public news with the reporter especially when these people also fear that their private lives may also be made public.

Intrusion of private life or information may lead to a negative perception of the media organization by different human right organization as well as the individuals who are on the same level as the one whose information is made public. In addition, the utilitarian model argues that the news media organization will lose trust from its audience hence may end up losing credible sources in terms of searching for news as well as other news people. There are some legal implications that may negatively affect the intrusion of privacy to the media house and the individual.

This is because privacy invasion by the news media is seen to degrade the public discourse in such a way that it is seen to damage the whole community (Drushel, 2011, p. 159). Apart from the fact that privacy intrusion is seen as unethical since it interferes with the private life of an individual or organization, there are different benefits which results from privacy invasion. It is the right of the public to be informed of the happenings in the country especially when the activities are of public interest.

According to Bugeja (2008), the news media is justified to intrude the privacy of an individual or organisation in order to give vital and important information to the public. There are times when the public has the right to know the things that affect the society especially when the public figures are expected to be role models of the society. This implies that the public has the right to know about the bad things that happen in the society. Privacy intrusion is seen as a form of empowering the public.

According to the transfer of power model, privacy is seen as a way of having control over any information. However, the access to this power is only beneficial when the community is benefiting from kit rather than causing harm to the individual. According to Overbeck & Belmas (2011), privacy invasion is beneficial to the public in situations where the public wants to elect a new political leader. This means that the media can broadcast on the private life of the politician in order to give information to the public so that they can make wise decisions during voting times.

Therefore, in private invasion by the news media, there is the need for the reporters and editors being able to carefully analyse the harmful effects and the benefits of the information to the public as well as the ethical implications of the information.

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