The highly coveted private life of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, have always been the limelight in media publishing and hence enticing the "paparazzi" to trail her every course. As the car of Princess Diana and her then boyfriend were chased by six photographers on motorcycles, their attempted escape hence resulted in the deadly car crash. The death of Princess Diana elicited massive outpouring of grief and fervently blamed the mass media for their audacious invasion of private lives. It is widely agreed upon that with the proliferation of mass media, private lives of prominent figures and even those of the common man have been seized. However, the mass media cannot be blamed if it is the individual's lapse of defense against the pervasiveness of the internet.
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The excessive sensationalism of the mass media has provided a major impetus for journalists and photographers to surreptitiously snoop on the private lives of prominent figures. There have been numerous exaggerated reportings of scandals, creating a market for salacious and intrusive stories and pictures. In 1991, NBC devoted a five-month investigation to "the Senator's secret", focusing on whether one of the politician from Democratic had made sexual intercourse from a beauty queen. Not only that, the media has also been critised of delving too deeply into Lewinsky Scandal, revealing too much personal information of Bill Clinton which were deemed redundant. Furthermore, the public appetite for celebrity gossip, like those of Britney Spears and Beyonce, fuels many clandestine reportings, with news on gossip websites and blogs to satisfy consumer demands. It is true that celebrities or politicians are being branded as a "public commodity" thus should expect high public scrutiny. Nonetheless privacy is a civil right accorded to every individual hence regardless their popularity, they should still enjoy private lives free of public scrutiny.
