Media Accountability Today... and Tomorrow
Updating the Concept in Theory and Practice
Tony Blair demands it, Reuters wants it, the Spokane Spokesman-Review practices some of it and scholars try to define it – media accountability.
The need for media accountability was formulated more than 100 years ago and made manifest with codes of ethics and ”bureaus of accuracy”. The Hutchins Commission used the concept in 1947 as a way to avoid government prescription of media content. The practice of media accountability has since been fueled by market expansion, looser regulation of public service and a technological facilitation of media/public interaction.
In March 2007 these issues were discussed in a two-day international conference at the School of Communication and Design, University of Kalmar, Sweden. Scholars gave overviews of Media Accountability Systems (MAS), media journalism, media blogs and the effects of market-driven journalism on media accountability. Practitioners presented cases dealing with victims of the media in the United Kingdom, news ombudsmen and media critique in Scandinavia, and transparency in Spokane, Washington, USA.
Content
Preface
Introduction. Media Accountability. A 60-year-old Compromise that Still Holds Promise for the Future
Torbjörn von Krogh
M*A*S in the Present World. An Overview of Media Accountability Systems
Claude-Jean Bertrand
Media Accountability in the Era of Market-driven Journalism
John H. McManus
Example of Internal Media Accountability Systems
“And the Walls Come Tumbling Down”. From Fortress Newsroom to the Transparent Newsroom
Steven A. Smith
Examples of External Media Accountability Systems
Media Journalism ... and the Power of Blogging Citizens
Susanne Fengler
Journalism After the Monopoly on Publishing Has Been Broken
Olav Anders Øvrebø
Media Journalism 2.0
Martin Jönsson
From Opinion Journalism to Internal Strife.<i> Vår grundade mening</i> – A Program of Media Criticism on Swedish Public Radio
Åke Pettersson
From PressWise to MediaWise. Promoting Journalism Ethics in the UK, 1993-2007
Mike Jempson
Ten Things I Want Community Leaders to Know About Journalism. A Former (external) Ombudsman at The Spokesman-Review Teaches Media Literacy
Gordon S. Jackson
Examples of Cooperative Media Accountability Systems
Chink in a Stone Wall. A Presentation of a Readers’ Ombudsman at Bergens Tidende, Norway
Terje Angelshaug
When Readers Wonder. A Column in Bergens Tidende with a Comment
Terje Angelshaug
Watching the Watchdog-Watching Dog. A Call for Active Press-Councils
Claude-Jean Bertrand
“Constructive Criticism” vs Public Scrutiny. Attitudes to Media Accountability in and Outside Swedish News Media
Torbjörn von Krogh
Final Words – New Starting Points
Torbjörn von Krogh
Supplements
Press Councils in the World – 2007
110 Media Accountability Systems
About the Authors
