Paparazzi

:For the article on the 2004 film, see Paparazzi (movie).

Paparazzi in the news

• The Oriental Daily News of Hong Kong was found guilty of "scandalising the court", an extremely rare criminal charge that the newspaper's conduct would undermine confidence in the administration of justice http://www.worldlii.org/int/cases/ICHRL/1999/12.html. The charges were brought after the newspaper had published abusive articles challenging the judiciary's integrity and accusing it of bias in a lawsuit the paper had instigated over a photo of a pregnant Faye Wong. The paper had also arranged for a "puppy team" to track a judge for 72 hours, to provide the judge with first-hand experience with what paparazzi do.
• Some blame paparazzi for the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed, who were killed in 1997 in a high-speed automobile accident in Paris, France, while being pursued by paparazzi. Although several paparazzi were briefly taken into custody, no one was ever convicted, and the official French investigation of the crash concluded that they had not caused the accident.

Many paparazzi feel that they are helping celebrities and photographed people in general by increasing their publicity. Also, this is is a money making business for both sides. As mentioned below, the paparazzo make a large sum of money when they take a high demand picture, but the stars also make money because as a result of more media attention, more people will support them.

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According to an article in Time Magazine, Mel Bouzad, one of the Los Angeles's top paparazzi, is a twentysix year old man who makes it his business to know where celebrities will be at any given time. Bouzad's job is to take marketable pictures of celebrities. The article continues to say that Bouzad, along with many other photographers, went from moving to LA with only his camera and a change of clothes, to becoming a very successful businessman, running his own business named MB Pictures. Bouzad told Time magazine how much money is involved in the business by claiming to have made $150,000.00 for a picture of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in Georgia after their breakup. He also reported to them, "If I get Britney and her baby, I'll be able to buy a house in those hills". He was referring to the luxurious homes on the hills of Sunset Boulevard. Also according to Time magazine, Peter Howe, the author of Paparazzi, states "Celebrity's need a higher level of exposure than the rest of us." Howe continues, "So it is a two way street. The celebrities manipulate the paparazzi too." Looking at the issue from the paparazzo's point of view presents an entirely different stand on whether or not the paparazzi are beneficial.

Related Topics:
Time Magazine - Ben Affleck - Jennifer Lopez - Sunset Boulevard

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