Reference no: EM131481356

Cynthia, a student at UC Berkeley, visited her hometown of Coalinga and, thereafter, wrote "An Ode to Coalinga" and posted it in her online journal at MySpace. Her page included her picture but did not contain her last name. The Ode told of how she despised her hometown and made a number of extremely negative comments about the town and its inhabitants. Six days after publishing her Ode on MySpace, Cynthia decided to remove it from her page. The principal of Coalinga High School, Roger Campbell, saw the Ode and decided to forward Cynthia's Ode to the local newspaper. The local newspaper decided to publish the Ode in its Letters to the Editor section and used Cynthia's full name in connection with it. The community reacted violently to the Ode and Cynthia's family was forced to close its local business and move out of town as a result. Cynthia and her family sued Mr. Campbell and the newspaper alleging that their public disclosure of the Ode violated their right-of-privacy. Explain whether Cynthia and her family's rights to privacy were violated.