Rule By Law And Self-discipline: The Study Of The Journalist Of Right To Interview

The right to interview, which occupies the fundamental position in a host ofjournalist procedures, does not receive due attention. The infringement of the right tointerview is particularly conspicuous in China nowadays, when the Chinese journalistsystem is undergoing changes, and thus the problem of how to save the right calls foran urgent resolution. The present thesis explores into the issue. This dissertation intends to attain to such goals as: first, to establish thelegitimacy and restrictiveness of the right to interview based on its legal source;second, to establish the principle of preferential allocation and distribution of thejournalist rights and to prove its feasibility; third, to interpret interviewings from theangle of social contract, putting forth the standards of legality and morality; fourth, topropose to initiate atonement for copyright and fine penalty into the current judicialactivities, thus bettering the system of legal relief,and finally, to provide a clearunderstanding of the infringment of right in China and make sensible suggestionsthereof . The interview right is in nature the journalist's freedom and right to collect newsand information. It includes the free professional right, the material base right, theequal treatment right and the evidentiality concealment right. From the legalperspective, the interview right is not a special power but a right, as the journalist isentitled to no privilege above the law. The right to interview, which derives from the constitutional freedom of speechand press and the constitutional right to know, is legitimately indisputable. However,for varieties of reasons, the Constitution of China has always been left out ofconsideration in judicial administration. There is no specific wording in any writtenlaw to secure the journalist's right to interview and the public voice to supervise.Legal protection of the interview right from infringement necessitates the draftingrelevant laws in legislation and the strict adherence to laws in judicature. It isespecially important to introduce the constitution into judicial administration. Thepractice helps to strengthen the legal efficacy and the authority of the constitution, 1which can exert constraints on the public power, regulate the excising power ofadministrative organs and protect the fundamental constitutional civil right andfreedom, thus promoting government by law. The right to interview is not an absolute right and needs necessary limits. It mustbe kept from being employed for spying into national secrets, commercial secrets orprivacy and from obtaining information by illegal means. When necessary, for thegood of the public benefit, priority can be given to the journalist according to the lawof even benefits. This principle should not just infiltrate into the public ideology andpractice but also be reflected in legislation. On the other hand, the intervieweeenjoys the right to keep silent and refuse to answer any question from the journalist,who, under such circumstances, has to appeal to his professional tactics for elicitingreliable information from the reluctant informant. Journalist interviewing is a socially contracted activity, where the informant andthe journalist are implicated in an explicit or implicit social bond or custom, whichmust be observed by both parties. The social bond requires the journalist to explicitlyinform the interviewee of the interviewing, grant his requests, and accurately andadequately express his intentions. Disguised interviewing, which is a type ofone-side (the journalist) agreed social activity, falls into three classes: the journalistdisguised as a speculator, the journalist as an imposter, and the journalist as abeguiler. It is neither explicitly banned nor permitted by law in China, but it is underheavy moral criticism. The right to interview has to be secured by legal relief. The legal relief consistsin...