State Dept.'s gaffe causes a stir with the Spanish government.

Are the children of political figures exempt from the right to their privacy? That question is asked and, in part, answered in this article on yahoo news. It would seem that the daughters of Spain's Prime Minister José Louis Rodríguez Zapatero, attended a reception in America given by President and Mrs. Obama at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. At this reception, the President and his First Lady took part in over 130 posed photo opportunities. One of which included Prime Minister Zapatero, his wife and teenaged daughters. This photo, along with many others, was released to the State Department's Flickr page.

In Spain, there is a law that prohibits the publication of photos of politcal leaders' under aged children, so sixteen year old Laura and thirteen year old Alba have never been seen in photos by the public of Spain. As soon as the mistake was realized, the photos were taken off of the Flickr page and even the Spanish news agency the EFE, didn't run the photograph. The Spanish government tried to keep the girls' photos out of the press, but their efforts were too little too late.


So, do the family's of political figures deserve privacy? I admit that I am torn on this. I think that it would be considered one of the many down sides to a political career, having your life be an open book. But I also see the devastating consequences that the paparazzi can bring about: , Princess Diana's tragic death as case in point. I was also a bit saddened that John McCain's daughter Meghan, who was quoted in the article, was so very surprised that there was still someplace where laws could protect the underage children of politicians.

This is a classic example of what we are studying right now, two differing viewpoints of the same event. The article I linked above is taking (in my opinion) the viewpoint that this whole thing was a mistake and that even though containment was attempted, that it is too late. But, I also found this article, that talks about how the two girls are dressed in clothing that signifies them as being "Goth" and that the leaked photo is getting the "thumbs up" from adolescent girls all across Spain. In any case, trying to protect the privay of people that choose to put themselves into the spotlight is getting more and more difficult, and it is one more reason I am glad that I am not famous.