The Journalist and Privacy

Keeping the Paparazzi an Arm's Length Away

“…Louis Hodges wrote a compelling essay defending a journalist's right to invade someone's privacy. He wrote, though, that the information had to be of public importance and be the lone way to gain such information.…”

Newsgathering and Privacy: Expanding Ethics Codes to Reflect Change in the Digital Media Age

“…Secrets are those things which are completely hidden from view and extend far beyond privacy. Louis W. Hodges (1983) illustrated privacy with circles of intimacy. The innermost circle is the most select, with only the individual and perhaps another intimate sharing secrets and private information.…”

Computers, privacy, and journalists: A suggested code of information practices

“…(Patterson & Wilkins, 1994, p. 111) Patterson and Wilkins (1994) encouraged journalists to understand just where it is they stand with regard to the public's view of privacy. They cited Professor Louis Hodges's (1994) depiction of privacy as being a series of concentric circles, with openness increasing with each widening ring. In the context of these "circles of intimacy," journalists clearly fit in the outermost ring occupied by the general public (Patterson & Wilkins, 1994, p. 114).…”