International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

The notion of media accountability concerns how to balance freedom and social responsibility in various aspects such as media structure , performance , and products . Accountability of the news is a notion concerning media products, especially public affairs reporting (→  news ). News accountability may involve two different sub-dimensions: liability and answerability ( McQuail 2005 ). The former mainly addresses the issues of how to prevent or reduce potential harm or danger caused by news content and focuses on imposing on the media material penalties based upon private or public laws. The latter notion, on the other hand, concerns how to control and improve the quality of news and emphasizes more noncoercive measures such as debate, negotiation, and dialogue between the news media and their claimants (→  Quality of the News ). The notion of answerability is most concretely expressed in various codes of ethics or professional conduct that journalists or media industries have voluntarily accepted as their own professional or managerial guidelines (→  Ethics in Journalism ; Professionalization of Journalism ). The answerability approach further underscores the role of news critics and those people affected by the news, beyond that of media owners and practitioners. In sum, news accountability is a normative notion which explores how to balance freedom and quality ... log in or subscribe to read full text