Following the resignation of New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, the media turned its attention to the woman before his downfall, 22-year old Ashley Alexandra Dupre, otherwise known as Kristen.
Much of the background information on her, as well as photos, have come from social networking sites, such as MySpace. Gawker is looking to satisfy the more voyeuristic among us by producing what it called Kristen: The Definitive Gallery.
That MySpace page, under the alias of ninavenetta has now disappeared, displaying the message: “This user has either cancelled their membership, or their account has been deleted.” The page, though, is still available in Google’s cache – a reminder that web pages never die, they just end up on a server somewhere.
But the images have taken on a life of their own and are easily found online. They are just one of the tidbits of information available on the web about her. She was an aspiring rhythm and blues singer, so you can also listen to her music online.
Or you can rate her body.
It seems unlikely that Ashley ever imagined the images, sounds and words she posted online would ever make the headlines.
But it highlights how many young people are living very public lives on the web, even though the material may not have been intended for a wide audience. These social spaces on the Internet have become part of the newsgathering process for journalists.
There is something tragic about how the media, both big and small, has voraciously sought out everything it can find on the Internet about this woman. The question is whether this is an ethical way for journalists to behave.
News organisations are grappling with this issue – the BBC for one is launching new guidelines which would restrict BBC journalists from using pictures from sites such as Facebook and MySpace in news stories without the permission of the copyright owner.
Ironically, the very same social networking sites that have fed this media appetite are now taking on the issue themselves. A quick search on Facebook reveals 13 groups about Ashley, from ones saying she was in my class to others calling for her to be left alone.
UPDATE: Ashley’s MySpace profile is live again, with messages of support from her friends.
PDF
a quick glimpse of her myspace page paints a funny image of how so many opportunists are now posing as her friends, falling over each other to be seen as her closest friend or whatever, posting support message on almost on hourly basis LOL I guess they themselves are trying to get a pie of media limelight.
But were not so naiive anymore though are we? We all accept that any information we willingly publish about ourselves online is in the public domain… especially if we happen to involve ourselves in certain ways with those in the public eye.