Media Laws Study Of Westem Feudal Society And Capital Society

In the social control means of the media, the law control is an important wreath. From feudalistic society to capitalism society, the media laws are gradually civilized and perfect. The directive thought of the western media law-making experienced the change that from the feudal society theological political law theory to the modern capitalistic social liberalism. Theology was the directive thought in the feudal society, among which the theory of "the divine right of kings" was the biggest effect to the media laws. The theory of "The divine right of kings" was widely accepted, which made the construction of the law and law system embodied the wills of the monarch and ruling class in savage and extreme way. There were ever the books and newspapers check system or concessionary system in England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. The persons who broke the media laws were strictly punished. After the victory of capital class revolution, the capital class controlled the national power, the directive thought of lawmaking in the modern capitalistic society gradually was established the liberalism, which emphasized people's sovereignty and natural rights. Then, although the essence of the media lawmaking still embodied the wills of the ruling class, which was the tool that the ruling class carried out the governance. The attribute of the media laws turned kindly and guarantee the widely rights from nakedly compulsive and inhibit. That the development of media and the transformation of social essential thoughts and society system made the directive thought change. The transformation of social relations and the making of modern national countries led by the establishment of capitalistic system, which made the media law standard the interests of nation, citizen and society that was only the interest of nation in feudal society. Media laws became public law, private law and social law, which was only public law. It adjusted the relations between the nation, citizen, society and journalism instead of the single relation between the nation and journalism. Thus it leaded to an important change on the law section dividing. In feudalistic society, the interpersonal relation is unequal, the monarch and churches possessed the economy, politics, juridical privilege, their right and powers and the people' s are not on an equal footing, and the legal relation produced on the unequal social relation was bound to be unequal. In the modern capitalistic society, nations were established according to the principle of "separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers" , no longer overrode the citizen right, but became the outcome of "contract" , interpersonal re-lations were founded on the base of equality. The media laws guaranteed press freedom on some degree. In addition to ensure the freedom of press, vary laws were made to restrict journalism, guarantee thejudicial right, private right and national benefits against journalism. On the point of the source of law, there were plenty of positive law but few case law, theory and international treaty in the media laws of feudalistic so-cietyo Until in the modern society there were not only positive law but also case law that in the common law system, theory and international treaty became the formal source of law. It was because of the regulation of the law' s development and journalism' s. The diversification of source of law embodied the progress of productivity and society. The development of the productivity strengthened the international communication, the international division and corporation became necessary, and the international economical contact gradually became the main content. Among the nations negotiations were needed, so the international treaties became the source of law, among which the contents concerning publication and journalism belonged to media laws. The development of the productivity made the whole mankind get progresses increasingly, the journalism made great progresses whose influence surpassed their own community, native country and even the mass media affected the international situation. The nations made the common policies and standards (mainly the technical standards). The international treaties becoming the formal source of media laws have already been the trend. The thought of "the divine right of kings" made monarchs and governments have the absolute right of the law and made the lawbecome the tools of purely maintenance monarch and national benefits. So on the point of the adjustment mechanism of the media laws, the rights and obligations of media laws in feuda-listic society were separate. The nation or church possessed a great deal of rights but undertook the less obligations to the journalism, but the journalism undertook a great deal of obligations without rights. In feudalistic society, the journalism was strictly controlled. When persons wanted to publish books, newspapers and magazines, they would have to pass the check in advance. If anyone broke the prescription he would be subject to the severe punishments. Concessionary system was even deprived freedom of press. After capital class seized the national power, the lawmaking was democratic under the leading of liberalism. Laws became the main instrument for social problems and social relations instead of orders. Meanwhile power division became the main form of the regime instead of unitarianism. In the capital society both the rights and the obligations of the laws were adjustment mechanism, the media laws also embodied the concordant relations between rights and obligations. In the capital society, journalism' s main obligations included providing true information, not in-fringing upon the legal rights of the citizen and juridical person, not endangering the national security, keeping national secrets, obeying the law, obeying the social morals vogue and so on. Government' s main obligations included insuring freedom of...