Glossary
Updated: Jan 15
Paparazzi
The term 'paparazzi' is used towards people which take photos of celebrities for newspapers. This is classified as photo journalism.
In 1960, Francis Fellini made a film about paparazzi called, 'Le Dolce Vita'. He chose specifically this name as if you translate it from Italian to English it will mean 'mosquito', which he thought describes paparazzi a lot, as they act the same way.
Throughout the years, newspapers grew and paparazzi industry intensely started to become bigger. The newspapers wanted photographs of celebrities and so did people all over the world. This then led to competition between paparazzies. Some of them were bringing ladders when photographing celebrities, to get the best shot out of all.
Even though, paparazzies were just taking photographs of celebrities, most of the time they took it too far and tried to get a picture of people which did not want that. By the end, some would get beat up.
In the 1980's, Lady Diana Spencer became known to paparazzi as she was a future girlfriend of a future king. She was very loved by paparazzi, as she was not hesitant when they were photographing her; It even looked like she enjoyed it. Lady Diana, was in Paris on 30th of August 1997, when she and her body guard got in a car and started driving, paparazzies chased them. They got in a car crash were Lady Diana tragically died. People were blaming paparazzies, and then paparazzies became more calm when taking photographs of celebrities, as they were scared of the consequences.
In modern day, everyone could be classified as a 'paparazzi' as we as a society take many pictures not only of our friends but also of our favourite artists, actors etc.
The Streisand effect
What is it? - when trying to hide, remove, or censor something accidentally draws more attention to it and makes it spread further instead.
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand started a lawsuit against a photographer and a website in 2003, claiming that an aerial view of her home had violated her privacy and should be taken down from an online coastal collection. Almost nobody had seen the picture prior to that. The case attracted media attention, and all of a sudden, a huge number of individuals looked for and saw the picture. The "Streisand effect" resulted from her attempt to control it, which instead made it famous.
Churnalism and Slow Journalism
Churnalism - a form of journalism that is characterized by a lack of original research and fact-checking and by reuse of existing material such as press releases.
e.g.
Nibs - news in brief - short pieces of info with little or no analysis.
Slow journalism - a news subculture borne out of the frustration at the quality of journalism from the mainstream press.
A continuation from the larger slow movement.
Whistleblowers and ins.
Ins. - quite simply, a contact that helps a strong, either by directly or as a third party they get you "in" to the information. A journalist needs a strong address book: a list of relevant contacts across their field of study who they can tell on to reliably help them on a story.
Examples of ins.
Press officers.
Other journalists.
Experts : professors, doctors, etc.
Participants.
Community leaders.
These are usually open, mutually beneficial relationships: you are seeking information, they are happy to give you information.
Whistleblowers - a person who publicly exposes corruption or wrongdoing.
Why do people do this?
Often they are employees of a company, or somehow connected to the subject they are whistleblowing on. They notice wrong-doing, and want to bring it to light.
Examples of Whistleblowers:
Karen Silkwood - a nuclear plant worker and union activist who exposed unsafe practices at her Oklahoma plutonium plant. In 1974, while gathering evidence to reveal these dangers, she died in a suspicious car accident. She became a symbol of courage and whistleblowing.
Chelsea Manning - a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010 to WikiLeaks, exposing government secrets about wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She was arrested, sentenced to 35 years in prison, but later had her sentence commuted. She is known for whistleblowing and advocating for transparency and transgender rights.
Edward Snowden - a former NSA contractor who leaked classified documents in 2013 revealing global surveillance programs by the U.S. and other governments. His disclosures sparked worldwide debates on privacy and government overreach. He fled the U.S. and now lives in Russia, becoming a symbol of whistleblowing and digital privacy advocacy.
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