Contact:
Peter Trapasso
Webmaster
Xcentrix zine
Phone: 415-392-4835
E-Mail: xcentrix@ricochet.net
http://www.xcentrix.com

September 2, 1997

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(San Francisco,CA) - Several web sites join together to boycott the tabloids. Four sites in particular: Princess Diana's Death - The Tragedy That Didn't Have to Happen (http://home.interpath.net/dbailey/diana/), STOP THE PAPARAZZI! (http://www.meer.net/~walterh/privacy.html), Remember Diana, Princess of Wales (http://www.gargaro.com/diana.html) and Princess Diana Memorial (http://www.xcentrix.com/diana.htm) provide a united front. These sites have been up since shortly after the tragedy was made public, early Sunday morning. The sites hve received thousands of visitors and hundreds of emails expressing condolences. The information presented serves to allow the world to voice it's opinion to the tabloids. We encourage stores not to carry the tabloids.

We feel that the behavior of the photographers which took place in the chase and perhaps ultimately caused Princess Diana and Dodi Fayedıs death in Paris, France blatantly disregarded those professional and personal courtesies that are normally extended. Further, we feel that this accident reveals the extent to which some photographers will go to get a picture.

We assert that Tabloid papers fuel this fire by paying large sums of money for photographs of celebrities. This in turn causes dangerous behavior by freelance photographers who are intent on pocketing the potentially sizable sums of money that can be earned by taking especially personal and/or embarrassing pictures of the celebrity.

In response to the events that transpired to cause Princess Diana and Dodi Fayedıs death, we propose a boycott of the Tabloid papers which contributed to this dangerous and ultimately fatal situation. Further, this boycott would target any publications which choose to purchase the rights to print the photographs shot by the photographers chasing Princess Dianaıs car during the chase or of the accident immediately afterward, such as Germanyıs Bild Zeitung.

Although some have suggested that the blame of the accident should be put on the driver, who allegedly had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit in France, we feel that this accident still would not have occurred had the photographers not given chase.

We feel that any high-profile person who is obeying the laws and is attempting to have private time to themselves either at home, or away from home, should have the right to limit the extent to which photographers can pursue and take pictures of that person. Although we disagree on the course of action to promote this idea, we feel outraged that so little civility has been shown by the photographers in question.

We encourage a timely and thorough investigation into this matter and request that any person who might have contributed to the accident which claimed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayedıs life are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the laws which have been broken.

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