In democratic countries any efforts to restrict the freedom of the press are
rightly condemned. However, this freedom can easily be abused. Stories about
people often attract far more public attention than political events. Though
we may enjoy reading about the lives of others, it is extremely doubtful
whether we would equally enjoy reading about ourselves. Acting on the
contention that facts are sacred, reporters can cause untold suffering to
individuals by publishing details about their private lives. Newspapers exert
such tremendous influence that they can not only bring about major changes to
the lives of ordinary people but can even overthrow a government.#
The story of a poor family that acquired fame and fortune overnight,
dramatically illustrates the power of the press. The family lived in Aberdeen,
a small town of 23,000 inhabitants in South Dakota. As the parents had five
children, life was a perpetual struggle against poverty. They were expecting
their sixth child and were faced with even more pressing economic problems. If
they had only had one more child, the fact would have passed unnoticed. They
would have continued to struggle against economic odds and would have lived in
obscurity. But they suddenly became the parents of quintuplets, four girls and
a boy, an event which radically changed their lives. The day after the birth
of the five children, an aeroplane arrived in Aberdeen bringing sixty
reporters and photographers.#
The rise to fame was swift. Television cameras and newspapers carried the news
to everyone in the country. Newspapers and magazines offered the family huge
sums for the exclusive rights to publish stories and photographs. Gifts poured
in not only from unknown people, but from baby food and soap manufacturers who
wished to advertise their products. The old farmhouse the family lived in was
to be replaced by a new $500,000 home. Reporters kept pressing for interviews
so lawyers had to be employed to act as spokesmen for the family at press
conferences. While the five babies were still quietly sleeping in oxygen tents
in hospital nursery, their parents were paying the price for fame. It would
never again be possible for them to lead normal lives. They had become the
victims of commercialization, for their names had acquired a market value.
Instead of being five new family members, these children had immediately
become a commodity.&