Lesson from Diana's demise

While Diana, Princess of Wales, is resting in peace, the same can not be said for the world of admirers she left behind.

While some people are patiently awaiting the final results of the French police probe into the tragic accident, many are already blaming the press for the princess' demise on Sunday.

Her war against the press -- which reached its climax in a Paris tunnel -- and the fact that the paparazzi had caused her to flee at such a high speed, have caused many people to point their finger at the press for literally hounding the princess to her death.

Actually, we must exercise the virtue of patience and wait for the final results of the police investigation, which will hopefully include testimony from the princess' bodyguard who survived the crash.

Our questions must include: did Diana and her lover Dodi al- Fayed fail to control the driver -- who had been drinking alcohol, was over the legal limit and drove at excessive speeds -- or did the couple ask him to drive like a devil behind the wheel?

They might have been too embarrassed by the photographers' presence, and did not want to give them an opportunity to take photos, although the whole world knew about their affair.

Blaming the press for the outcome of the chase may have been a knee-jerk reaction, provoked by a deep love and sympathy that the public feels for the princess, the world's most popular woman in recent decades.

Princess Diana's words, during an interview last week in which she called the British press "ferocious" in its pursuit of her, added more sentiment to this sympathy.

That the whole world laments her death is not surprising. Never has humankind seen a fairy-tale princess become a reality. Her fall from grace and her strength to conquer that crisis, by working for humanitarianism causes, have intensified her popularity and the outpouring of sympathy.

But one should also remember that the paparazzi are products of western culture, where the press has long been a fiercely competitive industry. And they work within a journalistic ethos where they must be the first to get the story so they can have a more exclusive product. The most important link in this chain is the public and its demand for their product. The paparazzi sell their "intrusive and exploitative" photographs not only to tabloids but also to well known press photo agencies.

The newspaper that has most closely monitored the princess' private life, the top-selling Sun tabloid, has watched its circulation soar dramatically.

British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said, in Singapore recently, that editors should reconsider their code of ethics following Diana's death.

A legal limitation on press intrusion into people's private lives is already planned by the new Labor government, which has agreed to enshrine in British law the European Convention on Human Rights. The British government has also been under pressure to introduce privacy laws tied to a freedom of information act.

But is it workable? The answer is somewhat pessimistic. The press has demanded a self-regulatory code of ethics, enforced by the Press Complaints Commission, but it has not performed its tasks effectively.

The problem is a challenge for the western world to solve.

In Indonesia no serious invasion of privacy could occur because the press has produced a highly acceptable code of ethics and the local culture does not support such an intrusion. The journalists have had enough problems with basic freedom.