Public Figures, Private Lives, and the Press

The Smithsonian Institution and the National Press Club co-sponsored the seventh annual Freedom of the Press program, a forum on the relationship between the media and public figures. Several media and political analysts discussed the extent to which the private lives of political and other public figures should be made available to the general public through the media, and whether the media's interest in politicians' private lives was justified by its relationship to their subsequent performance in office. Following their prepared remarks, the panelists responded to questions from members of the audience.