There is an intriguing fact in this age: when people turn on the television or their mobile phones, they frequently find out that there is abundant shocking news concerning celebrities. Most of them uncovers appalling dark sides of these people who seemed to be perfect and admirable in the past. It seems that no one is innocent under media scrutiny and it is only a matter of fact before some negative evidence appears. How do we interpret this phenomenon?

Two main factors contribute to this fact. Above all, the widely applied information technology stimulates the growth of a variety of media and leads to the advent of We-media, a low-cost method to spread news conveniently for almost everybody. Armed with cameras or other equipment, even the most ordinary people can become paparazzi as long as they capture things unheard of, let alone hackers who can steal credential information technically without any authorization. Rumors on the grapevine, compared with the boring everyday news, may go virus on social platforms much easier. Secondly, a public figure can be ruined by a single and simple piece of news overnight. It is universally acknowledged that it is almost impossible to avoid making mistakes in the long run. Every negligence is vulnerable to infinite magnification and probably some distortion through the Internet and therefore, becomes disastrous for any celebrity. Is there anyone who keeps an impeccable lifestyle? People like Keenu Reeves exist without doubt, but the minority like him are usually overwhelmed by the deficient majority. After all, living a life without faults has little relationship with the media. These 2 reasons explain why it seems that public figures’ reputation always crumbles.

To some extent, media scrutiny help create justice. The mainstream media seek to do so for obvious reasons. For We-media, it reveals the public’s basic standpoint-praising the virtue and punishing vice. People are willing to spread the news that rouses their great indignation and would like to comment on these subjects. This forces celebrities to be more attentive to what they say and how they behave.

The new problem rises as well, however. This power of media scrutiny can be overused and sometimes even misleading. When the majority move from indignity to irrational, cyber-violence occurs. Sulli, a south Korean pop star famous for not wearing underwear, incurred much debate online and eventually committed suicide. Her death is thought-provoking. Wearing underwear or not is neither a matter of life and death nor a question related to good or evil but it leads to this irretrievable tragedy unexpectedly. It is in fact quite common for netizens to attack others who share a different view without much censorship with their real identity covered. Unfortunately, many followers are not aware of how serious this can be. Furthermore, the original information can be distorted as pieces of news get forwarded recklessly. The even more horrible thing is that as tycoons gradually realize the power of media, it has become a weapon for some ill-disposed individuals instead of a scrutiny method.

So far, we have already seen how powerful media scrutiny can be. It makes us believe that the reputation of anyone who is subjected to media scrutiny will eventually be compromised. We see so many cases that almost no one can survive media scrutiny. But as we go deeper, we need to keep asking ourselves: does the whole thing end here? Can there be some exceptional cases? What if there is someone not afraid of the whole thing at all? What about the one who supervises the media? What about the individuals who pull the strings behind the scenes?

It smells like conspiracy theory whereas we can still find some clues worth analyzing in reality. In the J. Epstein case, the prime culprit Epstein committed suicide in jail. Story has it that more than 20 agents involved in this case committed suicide but until now, we still do not have any detailed or persuasive report. There are only wild guesses online. Though the story may not be completely true, it still reveals something that we have not considered thoroughly so far. The protagonists in this case include politicians, extremely successful businessmen and other people belonged to the upper class who have been under media scrutiny for decades. Their reputations do not seem to be negatively affected much. Considering that this is probably an accident, how many other things are hidden from the public and the media scrutiny?

To wrap up, the reasons behind this phenomenon can be more complicated. There is concise explanation to why this happens, but the side effects and other things related to this topic are also worth thinking. As the media coverage becomes more and more intensive, this issue will definitely become more and more important.