Some Say Newsworthy, Others Say Privacy

By Jon Rehagen

Obviously living in America differs than living in France. For one, there is a language barrier that many people in the states would try to have you not believe is present. That is wrong. Another is the way in which the French and Americans interact with each other when it concerns the way in which a person is thanked. Adding up all the other obvious cultural differences between the two countries would more than likely result in a hard time for any regular citizen from either country to live in the respectable opposite nation. However upon receiving more knowledge, the information seems to lead me to believe that one of the hardest transitions between the two countries could fall on journalists. I know “not journalist” professionals would simply say that as a journalist I’m paying more attention to this area than others, and that might be true. Why would I say this?

Well, upon attending a lecture at Sciences Po University in Paris I was exposed to an idea that pushed an intriguing button of my mind. The idea simply knocked the foundation of all my journalism education to pieces:  privacy supersedes newsworthiness on a particular subject, sex. Yup… let that sink in. Any normal Joe may simply laugh at my reaction of this, but to all you journalists unaware of French journalistic principles, pick your jaw up off the floor and open your ears. In France the invasion of personal privacy in regarding sex is simply sought as one of the vilest things a journalist could do. Now, I’m not suggesting that in America journalists are told to feast on the private sex lives of its citizens, but I am saying that should something come up that may be considered a public concern journalists in the United States are encouraged to let that story take them as far as it can. 

Privacy Across the Globe

By Alexandria Seay

After studying American journalism for four years, it was quite easy to get wrapped up in the culture of the Missouri School of Journalism and to seemingly forget that media can be different in other parts of the world.  The Europe Tour provided thought-provoking presentations that illustrated the various ways the government plays a role in journalism and advertising overseas.  The presentation I found to be most interesting was that of Peter Gumbel, the Director of Communications for Sciences Po. He showed an intriguing multimedia presentation that highlighted differences between French and American privacy laws and their portrayal in the media.  What I once considered to be social norms were not so normal in France.  

Many of the topics covered in the lecture stemmed from the French Civil Code.  Article 9 of the French Civil Code states “everyone has the right to respect for his or her private life” and goes on to define one’s private life as including “his or her love life, friendships, family circumstances, leisure activities, political opinions, trade union or religious affiliation and state of health.”  These French privacy lawss are enforced regardless of whether a person is a public figure or private individual.  As one can gather from this section of Article 9, French privacy laws have a few substantial differences from American privacy laws.  In many cases, the French privacy laws are stricter than those of Americans.

In America, the notion of newsworthiness is a large factor for journalists.  We believe we have a responsibility to inform the people.  Therefore, with this responsibility we often see the exposing of public figures in American media.  However, based on France’s stance on this matter, it is apparent that the idea of newsworthiness prevailing is not a universal truth. Gumbel spoke of the respect for citizen’s private lives, an idea highlighted in the Civil Code.  He gave an example of a public figure running for governmental office, claiming to be a devout Catholic, but having an affair.  There was knowledge of his infidelity amongst journalists, but no one would report on it because this dealt with his private life.  After learning this information, many of the students on the tour had questions.