We claim to respect privacy, but in fact we devoure the private secrets of hundreds of people every day. We do value privacy, but not as much as we hunger to know – to know the shocking details of scandal, to see the drama or terror or grief or humiliation, to understand the strangeness of our neighbours … The principal raw material consumed in the production of news and entertainment is people's lives, both public and private. From journalism school onwards, reporters and editors are reminded again and again that news is about people. Television ratings and newspaper readership surveys, as well as journalist's own instincts, tell them that readers and viewers want to know about people.