(2012, p. 11) stress that online media accountability should be understood in terms of practices: By practices we mean generally accessible and sustained modes of social and public agency designated by institutions or groups of publicly active people. It is also part of the responsibility of communicators and journalists to ensure that citizens are able to originate content and contribute to media content, and not just remain passive consumers of media output. Meanwhile, an onslaught of non-stop global messaging via our virtual world is forcing communicators to face new realities on the truth. The follow-up project European Handbook of Media Accountability (Eberwein et al., 2017) contains country reports on the status quo of media accountability in all 33 states. However, journalists in many Western countries finally reacted to public criticism—and political pressure—with the establishment of MAI beginning in the 1950s, while the media in eastern Europe fell victim to the Communist regimes that had come into power after World War II. Given the obvious insufficiency of traditional instruments of media self-regulation—which mainly result from the collective or individual self-interest of media professionals—engaging the audience might be a promising option to strengthen media accountability, but only very few small-scale studies on innovative instruments of media accountability exist so far (Eberwein, 2010; Fengler, 2008; Schönherr, 2008; Wied & Schmidt, 2008). Evers, Groenhart, and Van Groesen (2009) have defined media ombudsmen as “mediators between the consumers (readers, viewers, listeners) and the editorial staff of their medium” (p. 5) with a twofold task: on the one hand, they take on user complaints, discuss the user criticism with the responsible reporter or editor, and get back to the complainant afterwards; on the other hand, they are expected to launch general debates about standards in journalism within the newsroom. It is also part of the responsibility of communicators and journalist to ensure that citizens are able to originate content and contribute to media content, and not just remain passive consumers of media output. Marco Lara is changing the way that crimes are reported to the public in order to protect human rights and professionalize the media sector in Mexico. All federal- or state-level press councils in the United States have since closed. About this Attention Score ... Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) 1: 20%: Attention Score in Context. The role of the journalist 1. Bastian’s study has retrieved many similarities between media accountability cultures in these countries and the countries in southern and eastern Europe. As the premier communication university in the country, GIJ’s leadership in educating journalists and communicators in the last sixty years has helped to produce a strong media that is promoting democracy and accountability for development in Ghana and beyond. According to the MediaAcT study (discussed later), many media professionals across countries say that they have observed a notable increase of critical audience feedback online. In many cases, their foundation was accompanied by the formulation of new codes of ethics, following the ideals of Western media systems. Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Ireland also developed press councils; thus, this most traditional instrument of media self-regulation now exists virtually everywhere in northern and western Europe, with the exception of France. Among other recommendations, the High-Level Group suggested drastically expanding the sanctioning potential of existing press councils. It is also part of the responsibility of communicators and journalists to ensure that citizens are able to originate content and contribute to media content, and not just remain passive consumers of media output. However, CEE public broadcasting stations are less independent from politics, and political actors have a grip on MAI in several cases (see Eberwein et al., 2017). Baldi and Hasebrink (2007) have studied viewer participation in public broadcasting across Europe. The committee plans to hold the story circle online in August, 2020. In Europe, the United Kingdom was the pioneer, with the creation of the General Council of the Press in 1952. Journalists from these four countries as well as from Jordan and Tunisia told us with higher than average frequency that they worked for distinctly political-orientated media and therefore felt constrained to support a specific political idea or felt pressured by the government. With regard to the prominent role mass media play in modern societies, a growing number of media scholars have emphasized the urgent need to hold the mass media accountable in past decades. Altogether, the Alliance of Independent Press Councils of Europe currently includes 34 associations in Europe (including eastern Europe). In 2006, an “association anticipating a press council” was founded by journalists; however, no progress has been made so far. There are also general media laws and regulatory frameworks at both the national and international levels to comply with. The hope that media blogs may have a positive influence on journalistic performance is also reflected in the few empirical studies on this topic. Part of being prepared is being organized. In contrast, new instruments of media accountability that have emerged online—such as blogs run by journalists, online ombudsmen, media users’ blogs, and media criticism via Twitter and Facebook—already have an impact on the journalists. Even though Israeli journalists operate within the framework of a democracy, and a critical debate about the quality of media does take place in Israel—be it on a respected TV program focusing on media, a journalist’s blog, online comments, and or a website maintained by nongovernmental organizations—infrastructures of media accountability are weak and display many resemblances to the status quo of media accountability in southern and eastern European countries. In Lithuania, for example, a system of self-regulation with a press council and an ombudsperson, similar to the Swedish case, was introduced in 1996. It also demanded mandatory media councils in EU states that do not have press councils yet, like France and Romania. Within the transitional media system, the Myanmar Press Council (MPC) holds a position quite typical for such institutions in transitional or development countries. This is different, for example, in Finland, where Internet penetration is one of the highest in Europe but the number of active producers is low, and both the established media and the venerable old media council enjoy a high level of public trust. Media organizations who have pushed toward outsourcing in many European countries now carry a huge responsibility: They have to make sure (in their own interest) that they do not grow a “journalistic precariat” without any ethical awareness. What is the Accountable Journalism Site? Figure 1. . that the members of the press engage in vigorous mutual criticism. Self-criticism is almost unknown. Similarly, in Portugal, ombudspersons play an important role in several media houses—for example at the quality newspaper Público and the public broadcaster RTP. While comprehensive research exists on journalism and accountability for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, research about media accountability in media systems and journalism cultures beyond the Western world is rather rare. In a guild-like way, the Ordine regulates access to the profession. Societies must have a genuine interest in the quality of information provided by the mass media due to their unique function for democracy: Media create a public sphere, where controversial arguments regarding political (and other) matters are being exchanged. They will have to sooner or later. Thus, in the media systems of central and eastern Europe, organizations like press or media councils mostly came into existence only in the period after the fall of Communism—if at all. (2016) have explored the professional values of watchblog operators in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the United Kingdom. For the Arab world, case studies exist for Tunisia and Jordan. Alsius, Rodríguez-Martínez, and de los Rios (2014) define press councils as, collegiate bodies that oversee self-regulatory compliance with the ethical principles of journalism. At the same time, media organizations and the journalism profession have increasingly been forced to react on a “secular societal trend of citizen participation” (Van der Wurff & Schoenbach, 2011, p. 417). (p. 101). Overview of attention for article published in Journalism Studies, November 2020. Media criticism is also confined to media blogs in Romania, where there is a rather lively media bloggers’ scene. One week after Raskin’s article was published, Norman I. Isaacs, publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louisville Times, hired veteran journalist John Herchenroeder as the first newspaper ombudsman. As a consequence, two national press councils are now competing for supremacy in Estonia. In 2013, the EU High-Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism published its final report. Since the news media “have become one of the nervous systems in the social body, the public needs to be informed about them. Excellent overviews over the history of media accountability before World War II are provided by Brown (1974) and Marzolf (1991). But while digital MAI obviously have gained prominence, they still lag behind the (limited) relevance of the traditional MAI. Take a look below for the risks. While Markel accused the U.S. press of trivialism and a lack of professionalism, Raskin called on the media to create internal departments of criticism to fight the high-handedness of media institutions and to employ ombudsmen as mediators between journalists and the public (Brown, 1974, p. 52). Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Clinical Nursing, November 2020. Message from Chair. The author wishes to thank Dominik Speck for a critical review of the manuscript. Following the failed coup-d’état in 2016 and the subsequent authoritarian turn in Turkish politics, the country turned into the world’s largest prison for journalists (Reporters without Borders, 2018), and most of the news media organizations have come under direct or indirect governmental control. In the name of freedom of expression, abuses happen and certain aspects remain largely unaccountable. This can be interpreted in the light of the transitional context: Individual freedoms including freedom of speech and press have been part of the demands by protesters in Tunisia and Jordan since the beginning of the Arab Uprisings. Somewhat similar, the accountability infrastructure of Asian countries has not been subject to systematic comparative research yet, and research on the national level is rare too. A comprehensive study on media accountability in Latin America (Bastian, in press) has analyzed the development of media accountability in Brazil, Argentine, and Uruguay after the end of military dictatorship. While private media enterprises in central and eastern Europe have been reluctant to establish instruments of media accountability, legislators have obliged public broadcasting stations to implement instruments of media accountability in the political transformation period after 1990. There is practically no media journalism in the mass media in Estonia, because, as Loit, Lauk, and Harro-Loit (2011) observe, “owners, editors-in-chief and other media leaders are highly allergic towards any criticism addressing their outlets” (p. 44). Perhaps best known is the result of a 1964 libel case, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan that increased the burden of proof for public officials who wish to win a … Consequently, and in a similar way to their colleagues in central and eastern Europe, journalists in southern Europe—given the absence of a functioning network of self-regulation and accountability structures—are considerably more willing to let the courts settle disputes between journalists and citizens. The Swiss Press Council was established in 1977. The team of 12, eight journalists and four government communicators from Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape provinces were in this once divided country to “learn about shaping public participation and dialogue between the press and the state,” as put by Andrea Tapper, founder of Tapperpress.com, a press agency in Hamburg, the anchor of the programme. Media journalism is not practiced by the mainstream media and remains a domain of alternative, community, and niche media, which is less dependent on market mechanisms and takes on the form of media satire (e.g., Slovenia) or is restricted to public broadcasting (e.g., Latvia). ... Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) 2: 18%: Thus highlighting state dominance and obedience within the news media and following the numerous arrests of and verdicts against journalists has become a key task of media monitoring. Media criticism is restrained to social media and the few independent news organs. Bardoel and d’Haenens (2004) have specified the different stakeholders potentially to be addressed in the accountability process: Besides the public, they mention the journalistic profession and the market, as well as the political sphere—which facilitates a debate about the role of media accountability beyond Western democracies (see the section on “Media Accountability in Restrictive Regimes and Transition Countries”). In recent years media scholars have proposed changing the old legislation and transforming new ideas into media law in order to introduce such an institution in Poland. Laitila’s (1995) study found that almost all European codes request of journalists “truthfulness,” “honesty,” “accuracy of information,” and “correction of errors” (p. 538). Generally, these organizations take as a reference those codes that they help to draft or update. Hungary has a media council that is part of the coregulation system that was set up in accordance with the media law of 2010, but members of this media council are recruited by Fidesz-dominated Parliament (see Eberwein et al., 2017). Yet, the authoritarian system also still has its marks: Jordanian and Tunisian journalists still feel a higher responsibility toward government and/or political parties than their European counterparts. Thus investing in journalism education itself is an investment in an accountable press. A group of international researchers has provided several qualitative case studies that investigated further examples of online MAIs in order to find out whether they can correct some of the well-documented deficits of traditional media self-regulation (Heikkilä et al., 2012). Accountability is a necessity for communicators and journalists. The reader’s editor of the Cumhuriyet, Güray Öz, has been, along with other leading editors of the daily, subject to criminal prosecution. Although the scope of media blogs in Europe has been diverse up until recently, differences between countries are still noticeable. However, journalists and media organizations often do not live up to the expectations, and “media can cause serious harm” even “without violating the law” (Bertrand, 2000, p. 22) During the past few decades, most Western democracies have developed a complex legal framework that is supposed to safeguard a free and pluralistic media landscape (Psychogiopoulou, 2012). Some quality media engage in media criticism, while the media’s involvement in the military dictatorships has only been started to be discussed recently. Printed from Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Communication. This session outlines central aspects of media ethics, as they appear in professional codes of ethics all over the world. 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