Law Commons^™

Establishing Constitutional Malice For Defamation And Privacy/False Light Claims When Hidden Cameras And Deception Are Used By The Newsgatherer, David A. Elder, Neville L. Johnson, Brian A. Rishwain

David A. Elder

In the last two decades network television newsmagazines in an endless search for ratings, which translates into revenues, have declared war on the right of privacy we all enjoy as Americans. The hidden camera is “infotainment” masquerading as journalism, pandering to the most base emotions, including voyeurism, with eavesdropping used to obtain the salacious footage. A hidden camera story is essentially a “grainy little morality play,” edited to heighten the entertainment value, where journalists go undercover to mythologize their work by becoming protagonists, modern “folk heroes” who ferret out wrongdoing as the superheroes of pop culture. Undoubtedly, the most insidious …