Media and Public Shaming

Drawing the Boundaries of Disclosure

The media today are frequently in conflict with people in the public eye – be they politicians and celebrities – over the disclosure of private information and behaviour. Historically, journalists have had latitude to 'name and shame' malfeasance of public officials and criminal behaviour, but disputes are increasingly emerging over disclosure of non-criminal personal behaviour, family issues and sexual orientation, leading commentators to question what information can really be described as being in the 'public interest'. In this book, leading academics, commentators and journalists consider the extent to which privacy is warranted for activities outside the scope of their professional lives or when disclosure reveals duplicity related to reputations, brands, images and public personas built and conveyed through media by political and celebrity figures.