TMZ Generation

Whitney Hare
WH296805@ohio.edu

Celebrity gossip has become a staple in society today. People turn to TMZ and Perez Hilton for their information on a daily basis. Yet readers rarely take the time to think about how the information they're consuming was obtained.

Who has the right to privacy?
Many people tend to argue that celebrities have put themselves in the limelight and get what they deserve in terms of the paparazzi. But the intrusive stalker-like mentality some press now takes, puts these celebrities at risk. They are citizens of America like everyone else. They have just as much a right to privacy as the next person. Yet people thrive on the information about these celebrities regardless as to how it is obtained.

Who is at fault?
There have been countless videos of celebrities trying to leave a restaurant and just enter their cars. It is almost impossible with the mass crowd trying to get pictures and video of them. And every now and then there's a video of a celebrity flipping out on the paparazzi. Can they really be blamed though? They are basically stalked at all hours of the day by people trying to get a picture of them in just the wrong light doing one bad thing. It would be enough to make anyone snap.

Haven't we learned our lesson?
After the death of Princess Diana, many ask why we haven't learned our lesson. One of the biggest questions is why laws have not been enforced to protect those at risk to prevent another such tragedy. The public was outraged when Princess Diana died, and they blamed the media for her death. Yet still today, people turn to websites like TMZ. This website uses the same tactics that killed Princess Diana just to get videos and pictures of people who do in fact have a right to privacy.

What can be done?
I believe people need to speak up about this problem. If they truly blamed the media for Diana's death, they can't just sit by while those same practices continue. By continuing to watch the intrusive videos, people are only saying they want to see more. If they didn't watch and have such a high interest, why would paparazzi continue to act as they do? It's because the videos are in such high demand that they are so relentless. What will it take for the public to speak up enough to make it stop? Another death? Hopefully the problem can be solved before it comes to that.