Within journalism there are ethical dilemmas that present themselves across many different circumstances with one such prominent issue being privacy and safety. Meghan Markle recently accredited the UK media in prompting death threats and anger directed towards her. Tabloid journalism often uses extravagant or embellished headlines to draw consumers in while utilizing every piece of seemingly innocuous day today existence as cannon fodder for any story the tabloid can conceivably make interesting.
This method of creating interesting stories at the expense of individuals can certainly cause contempt. Meghan Markle is quoted stating that "You are making me afraid”, "And like that night, to be up and down in the middle of the night looking down my hallway like, 'Are we safe? Are the doors locked? Is security on?' That's real! 'Are my babies safe?” This fear calls into question the ethics of using someone’s life ‘s as entertainment. It can be difficult at times to remember that even celebrities and politicians are still people who have their own lives, desires, and fears. When considering this, it makes sense that anyone would want to feel safe from harm and desire the safety of their children.
With this said, there’s room to question whether celebrities are being dramatic when stories are made about them. Many people do not particularly enjoy being spoken poorly about and it’s understandable how some individuals may take it upon themselves to lash out at the publications that release stories such as that or alternatively the celebrities may take on a persona of a man’s guilt fear or sadness to evoke sympathy for themselves out of an audience.
Megan Markle stated that she was receiving death threats. While it is common for individuals of notable status to receive death threats it can be easy for the everyday person to minimalize the effect a death threat would have on A person with death threats against celebrities seem so commonplace and unfounded. Very few celebrities are killed by those who push death threats. This does not equate however to a fearless experience on the part of the person who receives death threats. Being informed by one or multiple people that they would enjoy ending your life is an immensely stressful ordeal that reeks psychological havoc on a person‘s mind.
While that fear is real and those death threats may be real, should the publication feel any responsibility for a celebrity receiving those death threats? News has a long history of holding both politicians and celebrities accountable for their actions and words. Individuals from all over the World can see controversial statements, opinions, or actions of famous people. The ethical dilemma appears if a publication goes out of its way to lie about an individual or miss quote taken out of context and embellish on the words or actions of a famous person to incite outrage towards them. This line is a difficult one to balance, but it is the duty of publications to hold prominent figures accountable while maintaining their own integrity as well.
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