Ethics Debate on Rhianna Photo

by jill ~ February 26, 2009

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard about super pop star Rhianna’s ill-fated relationship with Chris Brown, and chances are you’ve even seen the photos of her after the reported attack of domestic abuse.

In this PR Week article, the issue of ethics is raised. Should they have published the photo or not?

According to PR Week, “The shifting media landscape has radically rewritten the rules of what content is suitable for publication, and what is considered a private matter. Case in point: many outlets published a photo of a battered Rihanna, reportedly the victim of a domestic abuse incident, while others chose to link to it, and some didn’t mention it at all.”

The photo was initially leaked through TMZ, an organization well-known for ethical misgivings on boundaries for appropriate celebrity photos and gossip.  The existence of the photos surely is painful for Rhianna, but is it irresponsible journalism to print the photo?  

PR Week goes on to say: “Traditionally, journalistic standards required reporters and editors to keep the names and photos of victims from publication. However, the case falls at the murky intersection of crime reporting and celebrity publishing. Thus, Rihanna’s star status and the luminary-obsessed nature of entertainment media have thrown the old rules away, says David Hauslaib, editorial director of Jossip.com, a gossip Web site covering entertainment and media.“We have this appetite for celebrity culture and it brings down any sort of safeguards we, as a media industry, have implemented to protect people,” he explains. ”

So, with celebrities already part of the public eye - the lines are so blurred on what is fair game and not in the media that I can’t even make my own mind up about this issue. Some might argue that leaking this information is responsible as it draws attention to issues of domestic abuse, and also may make it impossible for Rhianna to get back together with Chris Brown (if she would have otherwise) - maybe stopping the cycle of abuse.  What would have happened if photos of a bruised and battered Tina Turner had been published - would her relationship with Ike have ended long, long before it did in reality?  And if so, wouldn’t that have been better for her?

This a tough issue.  What do you think?