The need of Shield Law in China - Research Paper Example

In accordance to this, if the journalists are threatened they are free to file a petition in the court with respect to federal prosecution as per the guidelines of this law (Pavlik 189-192). THESIS STATEMENT China’s media censorship has often been accused or alleged to be vague. Restricting the transparent flow of information, journalists or the reports are also reported to be imprisoned if the government believes that the news or the information is to compromise political benefits in China.

Focusing on these issues, the thesis intends to reveal the need and the importance of Shield Law in China. ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF SHIELD LAW Journalism in China represents a dominant as well as bias role played by the government with respect to media censorship. The problem related to journalism represents that the content as well as the communication of the news event to the general mass is staggering in the recent years with the emergence of increasing internet users (Schlesinger, “Challenged in China”). . ersonalities acting in the chain of command of the governance system in China with the motive to stop the information from being conveyed to the general public.

Thus, apparently, the prevailing situation within China related to journalism demands for a shield to protect the journalists and the informers from revealing any confidential information concerning the sources in a court under any circumstances (Schlesinger, “Challenged in China”). To be precise, Shield law represents the rules and the regulations that protect the reporters from being forced to unveil any confidential information in the court (Reporters Committee, “The Reporter's Privilege Compendium: An Introduction”).

The implementation of Shield law therefore aims at providing a privilege to the reporters with respect to the disclosure of any information which can cause significant effects on the reputation of the other parties involved in the event reported. As the law states that a journalist or a reporter cannot be forced by law to reveal the information or the sources of the information, it is quite likely that influences in terms of restrictions from influential political parties will be reduced, and therefore, a proper flow of information can be maintained adhering to the rights of audiences to information.

Shield Law further reveals that a reporter cannot be forced to testify the information that entails the news, sources and stories which directly or indirectly signifies the doings of a particular cohort. In addition, the implementation of the Shield law protects the journalists’ right to non-disclosure of information and sources of information even if the information has been revealed during dissemination of the story with respect to the source or information, on the grounds of