2. Ever
since, Lady Diana Spencer became the
Princess of Wales after her marriage to
Prince Charles, the media had a keen
interest in the Princess’s life.
She was seen as the ‘People’s Princess’ so
any stories about her provoke the nation’s
interest.
This interest continued even when Diana and
Charles very publically divorced. The media
was eager to discover every bit of scandal
they could find by any means.
3.
However, Diana finally spoke out about the Press’s intrusion when
she developed a relationship with Dodi Fayed.
Whilst on holiday with Fayed, the media managed to capture
photos of Diana whilst she was on a private yacht. These picture
were transformed into a three page report in ‘The Sun’
newspaper.
Diana complained to the PCC (Press Complaints Commission)
several times regarding intrusive photographs of her and her
young sons.
She took this action further by pressing for an injunction against
a particular photographer whom was following her. At the time
she took out the ignition keys of his motor bike to ensure the
photographer would not continue to follow her.
Here is a video where Diana is speaking publically about the press
coverage of herself.
http://youtu.be/_AbiPCqi24A
4. The
scandal and crisis came to a climax when
Diana tragically lost her life in a car crash.
Her death received the most newspaper
coverage than any event since 1880.
There is some argument on whether the
Press indeed caused her death. It is claimed
that the driver was told to speed in order to
get away from the photographers chasing
after them.
5. The press’s ethics were questioned after Diana’s
death and whether the privacy of very public
people should be respected more.
During the Calcutt Report 1990 it had already
been mentioned about the Press’s respect
towards privacy but during the late 90’s the PCC
came under fire of their failure to tighten the
control of the newspaper’s intrusions.
The PCC worked closely with the Government to
make changes to their Code of Conduct and
improve their rules upon privacy.
However the PCC have still been criticized over
the years to the present day about how the Press
gather their information.
