Maryanne Martini

February 15, 2016

Padgett
Revised Essay 1
How do our First Amendment rights effect the privacy that we deserve as citizens of the United
States?
I am interested in this research question because as a journalism major it is very
controversial. It makes me wonder how far the press should be able to go and what should be
reported about people from political candidates, to actors, to people who win the lottery. This
question affects me and my values because I question the line between letting society know what
is going on versus the privacy of our citizens. I do not have personal experience of being in the
news but I do read a lot of news and feel like I am always very up to date about what is going on
not only in the United States but also the world. Reading the news every morning and throughout
the day about the debate that was on TV last night makes a lot of sense. Everything that is said
on nationwide programming is public knowledge. An intimate interview in the home of a
celebrity who just had a baby is public knowledge. The celebrity is telling the reporter her babys
name and the color of her nursery so therefore she is telling the world. But, is it fair to report on
that same celebritys baby before she makes a statement on it? Is it fair to have fifty men with
cameras surrounding the hospital she reportedly has chosen to give birth in? I want to provide
research on the line that defines the rights given to us in the First Amendment and the respect for
privacy that most people see as a human right.
PR Newswire wrote an article about how far the First Amendment should be taken when
considering the twenty-four-hour news cycle of todays society. There is a never ending flow of

celebrity news which means more paparazzi are necessary to cover that news. The First
Amendment guarantees a right to freedom of the press but the question is how far is too far when
it comes to paparazzi taking pictures of celebrities. It is said sometimes that celebrities have to
give up their personal life in order to be famous but I want to know if that is really fair. The
author is PR Newswire, whom I have never heard of before but found the source on the
University of South Carolina librarys database. I found it under the Gale Biography section
which I have used for research papers before and have found that it is a great source.
The central claim in an article from William and Marys Law Review is about a public
interest exception to the First Amendment. This public interest claim does not mean protecting
the commercial use of an individuals name but more about how the public acquires information.
The article also makes many statements about how the people have been ignoring certain parts of
the First Amendment for the past years because while it does protect freedom of speech it was
also written to control the privacy of its citizens. The article is arguing over the public interest of
the First Amendment and if it covers everything it is written for. The source of this article is the
William and Mary Law Review and the authors are Martin Redish and Kelsey Shust. I think that
this is a trusted source because it comes from an academic institution, also I found the article on
the Ebsco Research section on the University of South Carolina librarys database.
The main evidence in an article by the University of Missouri-Kansas is the Bill of Rights
itself. Nowhere in the constitution does it address the right to ones privacy but in the Bill of
Rights the First Amendment, Third amendment, Fourth amendment, and Fifth amendment all
touch on privacy in some way. This article explains the back bones of our rights better than the
other two articles I found that touch more on freedom of speech. The major value in this article is
the general right to privacy. The concern for most citizens is that they think the government is

over stepping our right to privacy. This is another side of the argument of making privacy rights
stronger. By getting the government involved in there being more seclusion for celebrities and
even for celebrated townspeople it could create a problem of having the government too
involved. The new question is do we as citizens deal with it without the government or trust the
government to fix the problem and have them perhaps controlling our rights even more. This
article comes from the University of Missouri-Kansas so I find it a credible source though there
is no author stated so it is questionable who wrote it. Although, most of the information in the
article is facts so I think it is still a usable source.
This research question is arguable because the First Amendment gives every citizen the
right to free speech but there is a major argument on how far that should be able to be taken.
There is a lot of information around the topic especially concerning the paparazzi and the privacy
of citizens that has been partially taken away for the sole purpose of entertainment. As a
journalism major it is tough for me to say that the press should have more restrictions regarding
privacy of celebrities and political candidates, but as a person who reads the news everyday and
into the private lives of United States citizens I want to question the rights of the press. I want to
question how far the press should be able to go to seek news and if the press should have the
right to let the world know about the scandals of famous people or if news should be what people
in the spotlight want to offer. The entertainment news industry would disappear without the right
to hound celebrities and write about their every move because the fact of the matter is people
want to hear about celebrities, their children, and every single move they make.

Works Cited
"Hollywood Ground Zero: Where Celebrity, Paparazzi and the First Amendment Collide What Is
News? What Is Entertainment? Is There Still a Line? Does It Even Matter Anymore?" PR
Newswire 9 May 2007: n. pag. Biography in Context. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.

REDISH, MARTIN H., and KELSEY B. SHUST. "The Right Of Publicity And The First
Amendment In The Modern Age Of Commercial Speech." William & Mary Law Review
56.4 (2015): 1443-1500. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

"The Right of Privacy: Is It Protected by the Constitution?" The Right of Privacy: Is It Protected
by the Constitution? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.