Yesterday, as I watched Good Morning America on the local ABC affiliate, a report came out about Prince Harry's wild partying in Las Vegas. According to the morning show reporters, London's Daily Mirror leaked photos of the prince as he was dancing around naked in his hotel room. Despite the request of the Royal Family to not release the pictures, the tabloid did it anyway, claiming freedom of the press. When did it become alright to show embarrassing and incriminating photos of the "Spare to the Heir" after being told to respect his privacy?
I learned in my News Reporting and Writing class about muckraking, and what the Daily Mirror has done would constitute as muckraking. I bet the girl that sold those photos got a huge sum of money, and, according to the tabloid, plans on telling all for $1 million or 630,000 pounds. Most of the newspapers and magazines there had adhered to the wishes of the Queen and Prince Charles to leave Harry alone.
What the young man has done in his room was his business, not the world's business. Just because his Great-Aunt Margaret, Uncle Andy, ex-Aunt Sarah and even his mother Diana has been dragged through the mud by the tabloids, it doesn't mean it's officially open season on his antics. Sadly, Diana died at the hands of the paparazzo, using her as a case study on what happen when the paparazzo goes too far. Can Harry turn it all around and keep his nose clean, like his brother and sister-in-law, or does he fall prey to the paps?
