英美早期诽谤法制度下出版自由理论的实践困境

Practical Dilemma of Liberalist Theory of the Press Under the Early Defamation Law in Britain and the United States

已有相关研究成果对弥尔顿出版自由经典理论的探讨,鲜有关注其认可性诠释早期英国“诽谤王室、贵族、官员的言论应当受到惩罚”这一诽谤法制度的倾向性,该倾向性所框定的“残缺的”出版自由思想对推动当时英国媒体实践摆脱出版管控的影响并不明显。而“越是事实,越是诽谤”的早期英国司法制度被北美殖民地沿袭。18世纪30年代被学者反复赋予符号意义的“曾格案”的胜诉,对美国报刊批评自由的渐进发展并未产生实质影响。虽然美国宣布独立前后的出版自由思想得以入宪并作为基本人权确立,但形式上的报刊自由被诽谤制度严格束缚而抽离了实质上的自由。至20世纪60年代经典案例“纽约时报诉沙利文案”所确立的“实际恶意原则”,美国现代出版自由的媒介制度才得以逐步确立。

The relevant research findings ignore the fact that Milton's classical theory of freedom of the press recognized the unreasonable libel law in early England,and the“incomplete”idea of freedom of the press framed by the libel law system did not play a role in the British media practice for getting rid of the publication control.The British judicial system of“The greater the truth,the greater the libel”was accepted by the North American colonies.The success of the“Zenger case”in 1830s had no significant influence on the development of freedom of American press criticism.It was not until the classic case of“New York Times versus Sullivan”in the 1960s in which the“principle of actual malice”was established that the media system of freedom of the press was gradually established.