On The Protection Of Freedom Of The Press And The Right To Privacy

Starting from explaining the definitions of the press, freedom of the press, privacy and the right of privacy, this paper discusses in depth the conflicts between the freedom of the press and the right of privacy and the causes of such conflicts, as well as how to strike the balance between them. Based on a clear distinction between the scope of the freedom of the press and that of the right of privacy, this paper also probes into the conditions of infringement on the right of privacy by the press and the way of assuming the responsibility of such infringement, in an attempt to build a legal system to protect the right of privacy in the press.This paper demonstrates that the conflicts between the freedom of the press and the right of privacy lie in the following two aspects: the right of the citizens to know the. governmental affairs and the right of privacy of the governmental officials; the right of the citizens to know the social affairs and the right of the privacy of the public figures. The causes of such conflicts come from the different legal interests that the freedom of the press and the right of privacy aim to protect. These interests are of different nature and have different value judgment. No law has made a clear-cut provision between how to protect the freedom of the press and how to protect the right of privacy, thus leading to the emergence of such conflict.In this paper, the author presents his viewpoint of how to strike a balance between the freedom of the press and the right of privacy. The freedom of the press is subject to the right of privacy and no one is allowed to damage the right of privacy while exercising the freedom of the press; on the other hand, the right of privacy is subject to social interests in return, the privacy of the public figures relevant to the interests of the public is allowed to expose. Under the principle of achievimg the balance of social interests, we should treat the privacy of the public figures differently from that of common people. The value of the news or the reasonable interests of the public are the main reason to narrow down the right of privacy of public figures. As for common people, their right of privacy should be protected strictly and from all aspects.