Should media write about the private lives of celebrities | IELTS essay

Topic

Some people believe that media should be allowed to publish information about the private lives of famous people. Others say that everybody has a right to privacy and this practice must be controlled or even stopped. Discuss both views.

This essay topic was asked in an IELTS test held in Iran in November 2014.

Sample response

We are living in a celebrity obsessed world where everything that famous people do or say makes headlines. If media publishes stories about the private lives of the rich and the famous, that is because there is an audience for them. People want to know what celebrities do, say, wear, eat and drink. Media merely satisfies this need because it makes sound business sense for them.

Public personalities also have a private life that they want to shield from others. Just because they are famous, the media doesn’t have the right to publish all sorts of personal information about them. It has now become fashionable to publish photos and stories that are demeaning to famous people. This trend must be condemned. Everybody has flaws; however, when a celebrity exhibits them it becomes news. People get some weird pleasure from knowing that these famous men and women that they admire are not perfect.

On the flip side, there is a symbiotic relationship between celebrities and the media. One depends on the other for their existence. Celebrities need media exposure to remain celebrities. They are desperate to stay in the news. They need media attention to build their career. They become conscious of their right to privacy only after they have established themselves in the industry. At that stage, however, they can’t expect the media, which fuelled their growth, to stop writing about them.

To conclude, as long as people want to know about the private lives of famous personalities, media will oblige them with photos and stories. However, I believe that public personalities also have a right to privacy. Although I wouldn’t say that media should stop writing about famous people, I do believe that they should draw a line. Media must resist the temptation to publish stories that can destroy lives and careers.