Why would anyone want to be in the public eye?
In the last 24 hours, the New South Wales Minister for Roads, David Campbell, resigned ahead of footage which showed him exiting a well known gay sauna. Apparently the Seven Television network was able to film him exiting KKK aka "Ken's Karate Klub" on Anzac Parade, Kensington.
The Sydney Morning Herald has the story. Essentially David Campbell has been outed by the media as a married man who has sex with men.
First of all, my thoughts are with his family - they may have come to accept this arrangement privately, but they may not have, and understably could be hard on them. If they were unaware, the family's feeling of betrayal would be awful, and I would hope that they would get the support that they need.
However, I can't help but think that as a member of the general public, we don't need to know about this aspect of Mr Campbell's personal life. Mr Campbell has been a Roads Minister that doesn't have a strong political record, and he's been disastrously ineffectual at times, but that's the record we should be judging him on, not his private life. His private life does not have any role in his duties as Minister for Roads. The public doesn't need to know this. The public's eternal fascination and horror that anyone might be gay is the reason this story exists - it's the gossip angle that is driving this story, not any public interest. Mr Campbell did not have a staunch anti-gay stance, and he was not being hypocritical politically (like say, Senator Larry Craig). We should have left this one to rest.
I've spoken to journalists about this. If you go back 20 years, stuff like this was known by journalists, and it was understood that a politician or a public figure's private life was off-limits provided it was not affecting their public duties or actions. But since the increasing tabloidisation of media in that time, gossip now seems to masquerade as news. It makes me wonder - why would anyone want to be a public figure? If you're at the mercy of journalists who will sell out anything about your personal life, then you start to live in a state of fear. That's something that I certainly wouldn't want for myself, and I'm sure others wouldn't. It means that we lose good people that would otherwise be fantastic in public life.
The only trouble is that the horse already seems to have bolted, and even major broadsheets seem to get in on the act. I know what's happened, but I don't see how things are going to change. Gossip equals ratings, and that's going to drive more of this sort of prying into the private lives of public figures. Sadly, it's a loss for all of us.
The Sydney Morning Herald has the story. Essentially David Campbell has been outed by the media as a married man who has sex with men.
First of all, my thoughts are with his family - they may have come to accept this arrangement privately, but they may not have, and understably could be hard on them. If they were unaware, the family's feeling of betrayal would be awful, and I would hope that they would get the support that they need.
However, I can't help but think that as a member of the general public, we don't need to know about this aspect of Mr Campbell's personal life. Mr Campbell has been a Roads Minister that doesn't have a strong political record, and he's been disastrously ineffectual at times, but that's the record we should be judging him on, not his private life. His private life does not have any role in his duties as Minister for Roads. The public doesn't need to know this. The public's eternal fascination and horror that anyone might be gay is the reason this story exists - it's the gossip angle that is driving this story, not any public interest. Mr Campbell did not have a staunch anti-gay stance, and he was not being hypocritical politically (like say, Senator Larry Craig). We should have left this one to rest.
I've spoken to journalists about this. If you go back 20 years, stuff like this was known by journalists, and it was understood that a politician or a public figure's private life was off-limits provided it was not affecting their public duties or actions. But since the increasing tabloidisation of media in that time, gossip now seems to masquerade as news. It makes me wonder - why would anyone want to be a public figure? If you're at the mercy of journalists who will sell out anything about your personal life, then you start to live in a state of fear. That's something that I certainly wouldn't want for myself, and I'm sure others wouldn't. It means that we lose good people that would otherwise be fantastic in public life.
The only trouble is that the horse already seems to have bolted, and even major broadsheets seem to get in on the act. I know what's happened, but I don't see how things are going to change. Gossip equals ratings, and that's going to drive more of this sort of prying into the private lives of public figures. Sadly, it's a loss for all of us.