Top legislature mulls new media law

China's top legislature is considering drafting a new law on journalism and communication, the first–of-its-kind in history, said china.cnr.cn quoting a report from Voice of China, a channel of China National Radio, on Sunday.

Under the current system, the new media enjoys a more flexible environment while traditional media faces too many rules. The planned law is expected to end this disparity, said Liu Binjie, chairman of Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee, the National People's Congress.

Liu said journalism and communication should develop under a legal framework. A law is needed to clarify the bottom line for journalists, regulating what can and cannot be reported.

Liu highlighted two advantages of the move. On the one hand, it will remove the fetters and give full play to traditional media; on the other hand, both traditional media and new media will be granted autonomy by judging their reporting legitimacy according to law.

China is also preparing to build a unified original news platform to strengthen intellectual property protection. If any website wants to use the stories, they can buy them only through the platform, Liu added.

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