Celebrities 'deserve privacy'

Vanessa Feltz lost her privacy complaint

A new survey on privacy and the media has revealed the majority of people think celebrities should have the right to a private life.

The research found 85% of those questioned thought there should be little or no coverage of the private lives of celebrities.

This is in stark contrast to the continuing success and rising sales of gossip magazines such as Heat, OK! and Now which feature every intricate detail of the lives of pop, TV and film stars.

The findings also found 60% interviewees said politicians should not find their personal lives splashed across the media.

The Broadcasting Standards Commission, the BBC and broadcaster regulators commissioned the report from researchers at Leeds University.

News of the World is seen as one of the worst offenders

The results show a gap between the amount of coverage given to celebrities in the media and what audiences want.

Not surprisingly, 91% considered children should have the greatest protection from intrusion by the media and that restrictions should be in place.

Researchers questioned 1,000 people about how far the media should be allowed to go in covering the celebrities.

News International newspapers the Sun and the News of the World were singled out for doing the most damage prying into the lives of the rich and famous.

Obsession

The survey concludes audiences want the media to cover more serious subjects rather than concentrate on the minutiae of the private lives of stars.

But the research flies in the face of the popularity of star-based publications and the apparent obsession with celebrity.

Emap's success story Heat is preparing to launch a junior copycat version - targeting the teen market.

The research may come as little cheer to celebrities who have seen revealing photographs or scandals reach print.

Vanessa Feltz, Anna Ford, Sara Cox, Jamie Theakston and a host of big name football stars have been at centre of much unwanted media attention recently.

The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) ruled against complaints from both Feltz and Ford over the printing of stories and paparazzi pictures.

The acting chairman of the PCC, Professor Robert Pinker, recently declared the body's main focus should be in protecting the privacy of ordinary people rather than celebrities following a spate of complaints.