Last Updated: May 21, 1998
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RESTON, Va. — A representative of the leading newspaper editors group
in the United States testified Thursday that the proposed Privacy Protection
Act will put a straitjacket on all forms of media — not just the intended
targets, supermarket and television tabloids.
Despite the bill’s optimistic goal of protecting celebrities from the
tabloid press, it "would protect villains, frauds and scoundrels against
diligent photojournalists who would bring them and their activities to
light," said Paul C. Tash, executive editor of the St. Petersburg (Fla.)
Times and chair of the Freedom of Information Committee of the American
Society of Newspaper Editors. Tash's
statement is here.
The proposed legislation would make it illegal for journalists to persistently
follow or chase someone to capture an image. The legislation was introduced
last fall after the death of Princess Diana, when paparazzi behavior drew
public outcry.
Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, Tash described his own
newspaper’s exhaustive attempts to get a photograph of a camera-shy embezzler
who was involved in a possible fraud against the National Baptist Convention
— attempts that would be illegal under the proposed privacy act.
The subject stayed holed up in her Milwaukee home for three days, never
venturing into a public place. After waiting outside her home all this
time and getting nothing, the Times photographer asked and received permission
from a nearby business to shoot from its roof. It was from there that he
took a photo that appeared in the newspaper.
"This assignment was expensive for the newspaper and dreadful for the
photographer," Tash said. "We went to these lengths … because it was important
that our readers see her, not just read about what she had done in the
past."
The privacy bill expands the definition of trespassing to cover telephoto
lenses and powerful listening devices. Journalists who use such devices
could be punished if they publish material that could only have been obtained
through trespassing. It would make all journalists’ jobs harder while making
it easier for some villains to stay in the shadows, Tash said.
"(It) would create a new law that is directed specifically toward photojournalists,
and make them susceptible to criminal penalties based upon the ‘reasonable
expectation (and) fear’ of the person being photographed," Tash said. "It
doesn’t matter whether that person is a movie star in Malibu or a convicted
embezzler in Milwaukee."
Tash pointed out that the premise of the bill — protection —
is covered through various state laws. "Laws already exist to preserve
personal safety and public order," he said. "These laws have already been
applied to restrain some photographers and punish their excesses already.
The American Society of Newspaper Editors, with 870 members, is an organization
of the main editors of daily newspapers in the United States and Canada.
Founded in 1922, ASNE’s principal purpose is to serve as a medium for exchange
of ideas and the professional growth and development of its members.
