[Global Times Comprehensive Report] The news that "the article cheated on Yao Di" became a hot topic at the end of March and the beginning of April, which also gave Chinese a new understanding and more complicated discussion on "paparazzi culture". Whether in China, Europe, America or East Asian countries, paparazzi have been denounced as "immoral" by many people because they are so secretive and merciless that they make celebrities fear, hate and curse. But at the same time, the explosive news they dug up for a long time often made the "onlookers" feel happy, thinking that it satisfied the public’s "right to know" and could supervise the self-discipline of celebrities. A survey of foreign correspondents of Global Times found that foreign paparazzi regard themselves as a "special group" in the journalist industry, and it is not a simple gossip or sneak shot to dig the true side behind celebrities through "material evidence" and "witness". From a global perspective, the unrestrained reporting of paparazzi can not be separated from social atmosphere, market competition and other factors, but more and more countries have begun to strengthen the constraints on "paparazzi" from the legal, regulatory and moral levels.
Love it, but not into the mainstream.
In a small survey of readers after the related articles of the World Wide Web on April 1st, 68.4% of China netizens thought that paparazzi who exposed celebrities’ privacy were not journalists at all, 63.9% of netizens thought that the unrestrained reports of paparazzi vulgarized the current entertainment news, but 36.1% of netizens thought that the public’s "curiosity" about celebrities’ privacy gave paparazzi the motivation to sneak shots and gossip.
The history of paparazzi in China is not long and its scale is relatively limited. Zhuo Wei, the reporter who exposed the article scandal, was called "CEO of paparazzi" in China. Last year, his team broke the news about "Zhang Yimou’s Super Life" and "Zhang Ziyi Wang Feng’s Secret Love". According to him, if foreign paparazzi shoot Madonna, they will follow Madonna for more than ten years, and "we shoot hundreds of stars in China". Zhuo Wei believes that he is by no means a paparazzi who only wants to make money. His exposure work is to help those stars know themselves more clearly and achieve self-discipline, which "virtually plays a role in purifying and supervising the entertainment circle".
How do foreign paparazzi see themselves? Peter, a reporter from the British tabloid Daily Express, joked with the Global Times reporter on April 1st that he was a sprinter rather than working in the media industry, because all he had to do most of the time was to find news figures and chase them down. He recalled that in 2007, he chased Prince William’s girlfriend with more than 20 tabloid reporters and five TV production teams. Although paparazzi’s reports are more popular with the bottom people and become gossip topics after dinner, Peter believes that they are still "dirty" in the eyes of British newspapers and government agencies.
In East Asian countries, South Koreans are generally more tolerant of paparazzi, believing that the people’s right to know is greater than that of celebrities’ personal privacy. Zhang Shizheng, a senior reporter of South Korea’s Central Daily News, told the Global Times reporter that after the democratization of South Korea in the last century, there were many irregular and vulgar tendencies in media entertainment reports, but with the improvement of the legal system and the development of media self-discipline, there were fewer unrestrained paparazzi reports. Judging from the current situation, if the star or celebrity who has been exposed thinks that paparazzi fictional plot or invasion of privacy, the most direct way is to bring a lawsuit in court. If they win the case, they can ask for compensation or correct the report to save their reputation. On March 6th, the Korean entertainment website "Dispatch" published several photos of figure skating queen Jin Yaner and ice hockey player Kim Jong-un in love. Although the brokerage company in Jin Yaner admitted that most of the contents of the report were true that day, it was still very dissatisfied with the behavior of the website, stressing that "it is illegal to disclose personal privacy without my consent".
In Japan, there is a powerful "Weekly" industry outside the mainstream newspapers. Their celebrity reports are sometimes just like scripts, but they have also revealed the drug abuse incident in Noriko Sakai. These weekly magazines sell well because they cater to the public’s prying desire, jealousy and curiosity. Japanese director Kitano Takeshi was once photographed by a weekly magazine spending the night with a woman. In a rage, he took someone to smash the magazine. Surprisingly, although Kitano Takeshi was sentenced to detention, his practice was supported by the overwhelming majority of the people.
Play a disgraceful role, or have professionalism?
The word "Paparazzi" comes from Italian, and it is said that its original meaning refers to a "disturbing mosquito". In 1960, a photojournalist specializing in the private lives of celebrities in the film life is sweet was called "Paparazzo". Paparazzi is regarded as a "high-risk group" among journalists, and also a well-paid family. For example, paparazzi have a high probability of having a car accident, and many paparazzi reporters have also been detained. Paparazzi may lose their lives if they get into trouble with people related to the underworld.
In the United States, as an important part of the Hollywood star industry, paparazzi are natural partners with various tabloids and supermarket magazines that spy on the privacy of stars. On the one hand, the conflict between stars and paparazzi has always been constant. Movie star Marlon Brando once knocked out five teeth of a paparazzi reporter, and movie star Keanu Reeves was asked to pay 710,000 US dollars for injuring the paparazzi reporter’s hand. On the other hand, many stars also know that paparazzi can help them gain popularity and even invite them to participate in private activities.
As for income, a British tabloid editor can get 100,000 pounds a year, which is definitely a high salary among British media people. An American paparazzi boasted in Time magazine in 2005 that a photo he took of the movie star jennifer lopez sold for $150,000. He declared, "If I can take a picture of Britney Spears and her children, I can buy a house on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood." Such a big return makes the paparazzi in the United States compete fiercely. Beckham, who used to play football in the United States, lamented: "When I went out in Britain, at most seven paparazzi cars would chase after me, but in Los Angeles, I once met a huge paparazzi convoy of 45 cars."
Photographing the "Prism Gate" exposure Snowden is now the goal of many paparazzi in Russia. On October 31 last year, Russian "Life News Network" published a photo of Snowden’s shopping allegedly bought from paparazzi for "3,100 dollars". "Life News Network" is the website of the Russian popular tabloid "Your Day". This photo was taken by the paparazzi run by Gabrielyanov. It is said that in order to get exclusive photos, they can do whatever it takes, and sometimes even cheat hospital guards, and mix into the ward to photograph celebrities who are dying. Gabrielyanov’s photojournalists earn as much as $10,000 a month, but only if they grab exclusive photos.
In some stories about paparazzi abroad, they also have news beliefs and dignity. The Russian "Century" website published a commentary on February 27 th, saying that in fact, the profession of paparazzi is not good. Some Russian experts believe that paparazzi is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, besides firefighters, miners and policemen. They often face all kinds of lawsuits and the eyes of angry citizens, and even get beaten by the subjects. The article said: "Despite this, they are still risking their lives to engage in this work. It is their professionalism that let the world know where French President Hollande rode his motorcycle to have an affair with his girlfriend. "
Western paparazzi not only stare at stars in the entertainment industry, but also don’t "flatter" politicians. Gossip of politicians, private trading of power and money, and hypocrisy are often revealed mercilessly by paparazzi. American paparazzi often say that they "show their work value with exclusive news reports". Sometimes the "paparazzi" reports of traditional media can stir up a thousand waves with one stone, such as The New York Times’s exclusive exposure of the insider of New York Governor Spitzer’s spending a lot of money on prostitutes, and the Detroit Free Press’s exposure of the ex-mayor’s affair with a female assistant and perjury.
French paparazzi have a long history of scenery. In the 1970s and 1980s, gossip magazines such as Atletico de Paris were famous for reporting the love story of Princess Caroline of Monaco, and there was a joke that "Caroline was the food and clothing parent of paparazzi and Atletico de Paris". In 1997, the paparazzi played a disgraceful role in the car accident of Princess Diana in Paris. In the past 10 years, a number of gossip magazines called "Fashion Magazine" appeared in BLACKPINK. According to a statistic in 2009, the top nine French magazines are gossip fashion magazines, and the average weekly sales volume of these nine magazines is as high as 18 million, which is equivalent to one person reading every three the French.
Legal and moral constraints are indispensable.
Behind the paparazzi lurking in the front line are bosses who support them. The nude photo incident of Princess Kate angered the British royal family, but the editor-in-chief of the French magazine Proximity said before apologizing: "These photos are nothing special. Isn’t it just that a young woman is naked in the sun? In which year did you not squeeze millions of such women on the French holiday beach? " France’s "New Observer" has compared the reaction of British and French tabloids when they encounter celebrity complaints-British tabloids will never admit their mistakes and try their best to expose more stories, while French tabloids will continue to "wire" while paying compensation and apologizing in the newspaper, and publish new celebrity scandals in the same issue. These seemingly commonplace things are determined by the market and social atmosphere. Generally speaking, gossip hype about celebrities should be "fast-forward and quick-closed" and "point-to-point", and make a lot of money without being accused.
Livedoor, a Japanese portal, quoted a Japanese sociologist as saying that paparazzi are just the product of a country’s cultural market demand. Vulgarization of entertainment reporting has been in the ascendant, because after the market-oriented operation, everything is measured by publication sales or network clicks. As long as it can attract the public, all kinds of media don’t talk about any moral norms, and even play the edge of the law to make reports.
However, from the situation of various countries, the restrictions on paparazzi culture and news ethics will not be lacking. "Daily Express" reporter Peter said that in Britain, paparazzi culture has been restricted within a certain legal framework. For example, no matter how close the paparazzi are to news people to take pictures, they will give up if the other party severely stops them. In addition, when exposing the family affairs of celebrities, you can’t disclose their home address, license plate number and all the information of minor family members to the outside world.
In February last year, some Russian singers wrote to the Russian State Duma, demanding that relevant laws be enacted to severely punish journalists and paparazzi for illegally using celebrity photos and reporting false news. The Russian State Duma invited relevant legal experts and media leaders to discuss. There is a view that the amount of compensation for mental damage in relevant Russian laws is too low. Previously, Russian singer Zanabayeva sued a newspaper reporter in court for mental damage, and only got 100,000 rubles (about 3,000 US dollars) after winning, which was far from her claim of 6 million rubles. However, the head of Russian NewsMedia, Gaboleyanov, believes that the income of Russians can’t be compared with that of western countries at all, and raising fines will damage the freedom of the press.
The tension between American paparazzi and stars is also the relationship between press freedom and privacy protection. In 2005, Schwarzenegger, then the governor of California and a former action movie star, signed an anti-paparazzi law, which tripled the amount that a star can claim for compensation after being harassed by paparazzi, and stipulated that once paparazzi were discovered by a star and caused a dispute, their forced photos could not be used for commercial purposes. However, opponents believe that paparazzi will not disappear for a long time in the world. On the contrary, with the vulgarization of entertainment reports, the ranks of paparazzi will only grow bigger and bigger. After all, as long as the public’s voyeurism continues to exist, paparazzi’s unrestrained reporting will not stop.
[Special correspondent of Global Times in the United States, Britain, Canada, South Korea, Japan and Russia Wang Haiji Shuangcheng Tao short room Wang Gang Li Zhen Liu Zhi]
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