To what extent should the private lives of public figures be the subject of media coverage?
Public figures are those who have got their positions through the choice of their people, people who have been elected to lead the country or who hold responsible positions in their societies. They are people like royalty, presidents, prime ministers, ministers and members of parliament. To this we could add judges, public prosecutors and other important civil servants. It is true that they are often the subject of news hounds. Public figures are often reported at length on all their activities and quite a lot of it concerns their private lives. The question is should their public lives be an open book and should we all be concerned about what they do in their own time? Can we draw a line and say that they should be just like other top management people of large corporations.
The Baltimore Sun
The release of the Mitchell Report is reported on ...
Panel from Diego Rivera's mural at Unity House, de...These people seem to be at liberty to do what they like in their own time. Few peoâÂÂple, even the media, care if they cheat on their wives as long as they are honest in their jobs and do not break the law. However there seems to be lot of concern about what a minister does - at all times.
First of all it seems logical that powerful people need to be watched more closely than ordinary people. The reasons are simple. They could abuse their powers. This has happened quite often all over the world. Also, if they fall, they will take many down with them. If a minister falls, he may take his party down with him; if an ordinary man falls, there will not be much consequence. Only his family may suffer with him. Much more is at stake when a public figure errs and...