Published 2005-10-05T00:00:00Z”/>

<strong>Riled ‘razzi</strong>

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a bill tripling the amount celebrities can win if they are assaulted when being chased or followed by paparazzi.

Those poor, pseudo-journalist photographers.

How are they supposed to make a living if they can’t follow celebrities to their houses, their work, their gym, their parents’ houses, restaurants, clubs, dropping off their kids, picking up their kids, getting groceries and walking their dogs without causing a car accident or accidentally assaulting the celebrity in question.

Who is going to put food on the table if photographers don’t get that shot of Paris Hilton going to another party (she likes to have a little fun, that’s all) or of Russell Crowe looking angry (give the guy a break, he just has anger-management issues)?

OK, maybe I was being just a little sarcastic, but I agree that the increase in potential fines is not the right punishment.

We could all learn a lesson from Jerry Seinfeld’s reaction when he got a call from a telemarketer:

“Oh, gee, I can’t talk right now. Why don’t you give me your home number and I’ll call you later.”

“Sorry, we’re not allowed to do that.”

“Oh, I guess you don’t want people calling you at home.”

“No.”

“Well, now you know how I feel.”

Instead of wasting their time and money in court, celebrities should hire other photographers to follow the first photographers around.

I’m sure the paparazzi would accept being trailed night and day as they tried to go about their daily lives.

Unfortunately, there are some people who apparently accept the paparazzi’s claim that they are journalists and are challenging the new law.

The California Newspaper Publishers Association objects because it treats “journalists” differently than other citizens.

But guess what? You don’t see photographers following some random businessperson, or teacher or anyone else around. No, they follow celebrities, treating them differently than others.

Celebrity journalism and regular, hard-news journalism are two separate things.

A photo of Jennifer Aniston so fans can see how she looks after breaking up with Brad Pitt is a little different than getting news about a hurricane forcing the evacuation of a major city.

Travis can be reached at

<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>