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Chapter 8
Privacy and Public Life
ur students lead public lives. On Facebook they share the most intimate details and
images of the lives. They have advertising aimed at them solely because of what they do
and where they go online. They tweet and consume media focused on celebrities and
each other; many would be happy to tell their innermost secrets on “reality” television
shows in exchange for the fame. Once they post online, they lose control of their words
Chapter 8 focuses on the value of privacy, both in the context of today’s technology and
as mass communicators who can invade privacy in order to inform, entertain, and
persuade our audiences. While it’s easy to focus on the new threats to privacy and the
Learning Objectives
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A successful discussion of Chapter 8 will lead students to:
See how privacy is a value at both macro and micro levels.
Consider the multilayered ethical issues involving privacy, and values with
which privacy conflict.
Teaching Suggestions
We suggest these activities:
1. Consider a recent case involving an invasion of privacy and its consequences. (If
mind:
a. The September 2010 suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, who jumped
off a bridge after he was secretly filmed having sex with another man and that video
Facebook?
b. The case of Synder v. Phelps, in which the U.S. Supreme Court must decide
whether the “God Hates Fags” protest by Westboro Baptist Church picketers on a
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public sidewalk outside a funeral are protected by the First Amendment or an intrusion
Both issues tie into real concerns new technology, social media, and privacy. Help
students recognize those issues—and pose issues and questions of their own.
2. Work through the chapter’s key points in a lecture/discussion. If using the
accompanying PowerPoint, the points include:
a. A reminder of the Fourth Question (“What’s it worth?”).
b. Asking students to debate a quote from Jeff Jarvis, who is working on a book
Public Parts that argues the value of publicness: “Privacy is the responsibility of the
person who receives information about someone. Once you know something about me,
saying that a person who actively seeks to find private information may sometimes act
unethically by pursuing that information. Their argument is that the method of
obtaining such information should be considered, something Jarvis does not discuss.
Still others may argue that privacy should not be a concern when a person’s acts are
illegal or wildly immoral, depending upon the act or the publicness of the person.
c. Considering specific mass media disciplines, and the values that may be in
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consider Case 2.2—“Make a Link—or Not?” in which a blogger must decide whether to
link to an unconfirmed report about the engagement of the widow of a senator, who is
completing her husband’s term and not running for office and kept her small children
e. Defining “privacy” from Greeks until the present times. Give special attention to
the final quote, from Ferdinand Schoeman: “Control over the intimacies of personal
identity. … The space to develop the emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and moral powers
of an autonomous agent.” While that definition may not work with political figures,
etc., it should be a reminder to students that they deserve some privacy as they make
4], etc.)
f. How codes of ethics boil down the issue as “privacy vs. minimizing harm.” As
the book says: Most media ethics codes see the issue as the value of privacy vs. the
value of minimizing harm. Innocent people/naïve/etc. deserve special protection.
Revealing all you know will likely harm stakeholder(s), but protecting stakeholder(s) by
not revealing all you know has its ethical peril, too.
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Case Study Notes
Note: Cases 8.1 (journalism), 8.2 (new media), and 8.3 (public relations) revolve around
a single incident: The story of Sidney Bracey, an 18-year-old Freedonia State student
caught “stuffing” the ballot box for student elections. The journalist must decide
Case 8.1) Journalism: Publish the Name or Not?
This case study is muddied by www.freedonialive.com’s apparent scoop that names
Bracey as the person who stuffed the ballot box, which may give some students the
More interesting might be consideration of Schoeman’s statement that privacy is
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especially important for young people as they make mistakes and develop. Some could
argue that this was a youthful indiscretion, and publication will only worsen matters.
(Empathy is important here.) Others might argue that since the incident happened in
the public arena of students, his name deserves to be known in that same arena.
Case 8.2) New Media: Choosing among Privacy, Loyalty, and the Truth
This case reminds students that what they do—and what they write—may well be
Note that ethics codes have yet to deal with the matter, which leaves students on their
own. The case study provides three possible answers—but there may be others.
Case 8.3) Public Relations: “Hiding” Behind a Fuzzy Law?
This case pits the value of privacy against newsworthiness—and, to some extent,
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legitimately use privacy as an overarching value. Students against keeping the issue
quiet can argue that the student gave up any expectation of privacy rights by his
actions.
The last question may be more difficult, as students work to separate their personal
lives from professional lives.
Case 8.4) Advertising: Mining the Data
Students are given a slippery slope of real-life examples that advertisers and retailers
are using to track and keep customers. It is hoped that students recognize that,
invasion of privacy. (One author used gMail while writing this book; each
correspondence about the book’s chapters 7, 11, or 13 led to Google ads about
bankruptcy.)
Question 3—whether it’s ethical to have different prices for shoppers, depending upon
the level of personal information they reveal—is likely one students have never
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Case 8.5) Entertainment: Which Syndicated Shows to Buy?
It is hoped that this case study will lead students to consider the invasions of privacy
Students thinking about this case study likely will judge each case as a privacy vs.
Expect students to discuss a legal vs. moral argument, given that images taken in public
places and images from police chases are nearly always legal to show. The goal is to
have students move to a more ethically nuanced argument that goes beyond legality.
Also expect students to discuss the nature of celebrity, with the celebrity’s desire to be
famous yet have some level of privacy once they reach a level of celebrity.