Paparazzi As a Social Problem

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Paparazzi as a Social Problem The term “paparazzi” is defined as a “Freelance photographer, especially one who takes candid pictures of famous people mostly celebrities for publication” (Nordhaus 286). Most celebrities are able to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, but the fame always comes at a price. Famous people are always being harassed by the paparazzi who invade their private lives in order to satisfy the curiosity of the public eye. Some people have called for restrictions to be put on the press, while others are against the idea. Paparazzi in the world today have been such a problem over the past, maybe, eight or nine years. I feel that the paparazzi are a social problem because it invades the rights of people. First of all, some agree with the proposal of putting restrictions on the press because it helps to safeguard our basic human rights, one of which should be privacy. Celebrities are entitled to the same general right of privacy that all individuals get to have. “The United States Constitution does not clearly create a “right to privacy.” Thus, on a constitutional level, privacy rights take place via the penumbras of the Third Amendment (prohibiting the quartering of soldiers without a homeowner’s consent), Fourth Amendment (barring unreasonable searches and seizures), Fifth Amendment (conferring a privilege against self-incrimination), and Ninth Amendment (reserving certain rights that the Constitution does not enumerate to the people). Additionally, the First Amendment protects privacy interests by: “Protecting citizens from being forced to declare or express an abhorrent belief—whether by being required to salute the nation’s flag or to display a state’s motto on one’s license plate. . . . The sanctity of one’s innermost thoughts remains beyond government compulsion. The First Amendment also implies a freedom of association . . . which permits us to
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