通过对媒介法律顾问、记者、编辑、媒体管理者的访谈以及近20来年的媒体名誉权案件的分析，陈晓彦的《媒体与名誉侵权》发现：大部分媒体名誉权官司原告为普通公民，在案件讨论中侧重于损害的名誉的救济而不是言论自由的争论。同时，商业化的媒体更多地注重自身经济利益诉求和成本核算而不是看重普遍的言论自由权利的拓展。从自身经济利益和成本考虑，名誉权官司使得媒体更严谨对待报道和报道者的权益，反倒有利于促进媒体报道的真实和媒体伦理的发展，从一定程度上说，有利于言论而不是钳制言论。并且，从整个名誉权法律的设计和具体司法实践中名誉权案件的处理来看，中国名誉权法律的设计本身没有对言论的钳制和惩罚设置，而具体司法实践对名誉权官司的处理中，主要目的也是用来保护名誉权和为名誉损害提供救济，无论是原告还是法院都较少利用名誉权官司本身来惩罚言论。

FOREWORD

PREFACE 1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 5

 The Nature of the Law of Defamation and Its Development

 The Law of Defamation in China 9

 Research Questions 12

 Source Materials and Method 13

 Organization 18

CHAPTER 2 THE EVOLUTION OF DEFAMATION LAW IN CHINA 22

 Defamation law in imperial China 22

 Free speech in traditional China 26

 The approach to balance sedition punishment and free speech 29

 Defamation law in late Qing and the republican China 33

 Legal rejuvenation of protection of reputation 33

 Constitutional protection of freedom of expression 38

 Public opinion supervision and the law of defamation 42

 Conclusion 46

CHAPTER 3 LEGAL FRAMEWORD OF DEFAMATION IN CHINA 48

 Elements of Defamation 48

 The reputation of the victim has been harmed 49

 Defamatory statements 49

 Publication 53

 Harm to reputation 54

 Causality exists between the illegal act and the harm to reputation 57

 Subjective fault 59

Parties 63

public figures 64

 The deceased 68

 Media and media-related defendants 70

 Jurisdiction 71

 Defenses 71

truth 72

privilege 74

 The right to criticize 77

 Remedies 79

stoppage of infringement 79

rehabilitation of reputation and elimination of adverse influence 80

apology 81

damage 82

 Conclusion 84

CHAPTER 4 MEDIA ENVIRONMENT IN CHINA 87

 Changing Media Landscape 87

earlier history 87

emergence of non-party media 89

media commercialization 91

 Legal and Political Pressures on the Media 94

media ownership 94

licensing 98

screening 100

forbidden content 103

personal management system 106

 Party Journalism and Media Corruption 108

 Coffclusion 112

CHAPTER 5 DEFAMATION LITIGATION AGAINST THE MEDIA.

 AN OVERVIEW OF COURT-PUBLISHED CASES 115

 Source Materials and Method 115

 Overall Trend 121

 Plaintiffs 128

ordinary persons 132

allegation of criminal/illegal activity and official report privilege 133

exposure of personal details and privacy protection 135

allegation of moral failings and the use of insulting words 137

allegation of unpopular behaviors or subjecting the plaintiff to ridicule 139

professionals 140

famous persons 142

government officials and government entities 145

relatives of the deceased 149

corporate plaintiffs 153

 Defendants 155

party newspapers and non-party newspapers defendants 155

internet defamation 157

 Remedies 162

non-monetary remedies 162

damages 165

 Defenses 170

truth/falsity 174

official report privilege 178

opinions/academic debate and freedom of expression 180

 Conclusion 185

CHAPTER 6 DEFAMATION LITIGATION IN A LEADING MEDIA CITY:

 THE CASE OF CHENGDU 188

 Media Environment in Chengdu 188

 Source Materials and Method 191

 Overall Trend 194

the coming of defamation litigation against the media 194

explosion of defamation litigation against the media/author 202

the outcome of defamation suits against media(author)defendants 205

 Plaintiffs 211

ordinary persons 212

corporate plaintiffs 221

public officials and government entities 225

relatives of the deceased 230

professionals .232

 Defendants 234

 Remedies 241

non-monetary remedies 241

monetary compensation 243

 Defenses 250

 Conclusion 254

CHAPTER 7 DEFAMATION, THE MEDIA AND FREE SPEECH 257

 Defamation Litigation Suppresses the Media? 258

 Greater Protection to the Media in Defamation Expands Free Speech? 266

 Conclusion 270

 The Future of Chinese Defamation Law 274

criminal defamation 275

public figures 278

fact versus opinion 283

APPENDICES 287

REFERENCES 290