The news of Imran Khan’s wedding with Reham Khan set the world of electronic and print media on fire. On social media too the news spread like a prairie blaze. Naturally, Imran Khan’s followers were keen to know whether the news was true, but every individual has a right to privacy too. Our media’s obsession with celebrities’ private lives was unfortunately on display with a vengeance. In this respect, it seems we have not only caught up with long standing practices in the developed world, particularly in the tabloid press, but are striving to overtake them in the worst possible manner. Let us not forget the tragedy of Imran’s friend Princess Diana, killed in a road crash in a fatal attempt to escape the paparazzi. Of course that is an extreme example, but salutary. Our media creating such hype and dedicating so much time, space, air time and print columns to Imran and Reham’s wedding is not ethical journalism. In such cases, the woman usually has to suffer the prurient orientation of a media driven mad by the race for ratings and attention. Reham Khan is a British national and she was brought up there. She is a respected journalist who has worked in the past for the BBC and also been associated with some Pakistani channels since her arrival in Pakistan. What was particularly tasteless in all the media attention to her were some private videos that in any responsible journalism should never have found their way into the public space, particularly on such a joyous occasion when she and Imran were about to embark on a new journey and partnership in life. It should not be forgotten that Reham Khan has three children from a previous marriage. We are sure all this tasteless and prurient hoopla would have been as upsetting for them as for their mother and new father. The media, particularly our off-the-leash private TV channels, seems to have suffered deliberate amnesia regarding the situation the country is facing after the Peshawar massacre of school children less than a month ago, a consideration that persuaded the couple to keep their nuptials a low key affair. There are more important and critical issues to focus on at present. Tying the knot was an occasion to restrict oneself to congratulating the couple and wishing them every happiness. People’s privacy should be respected and a line drawn even for public figures. With an admonition and request to our media to refrain from poking their collective nose into people’s personal lives unnecessarily and to excess, we wish the newly wed couple all the best for their future. *