Why Is Privacy Probably One of the Most Difficult Ethical Area for Journalists to Define?

However, the privacy clause of the PCC's code of conduct states: "Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence. A publication will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent."
But this is countered by the rules on public interest which means that journalists can run the story if, for example, it results in "Detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour" or "Preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation".
Another difficulty in defining the limits on invasion of privacy is that privacy varies from person to person, for instance some people are entitled to less privacy because of the positions they hold. People seek social status by the elevated role they hold within their communities expect to carry increased levels of responsibility and therefore reduced rights to privacy.
Most celebrities and politicians expect continuous public exposure as an inevitable part of their lifestyles. Journalists often argue that exposes are necessary in highlighting hypocrisy and that people who crave publicity must accept that this includes 'bad publicity'.
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