Media Ethics and Accountability Systems

Abstract

Over last few years, O.J. Simpson case, then Lewinsky-Clinton affair, and scores of minor scandals have dominated US press, often taking precedence over important domestic and international issues. This tabloidization of news media, both here and abroad, has proved that the cannot insure quality. In a democracy, for to function well, they must be free of both political and economic muzzling. The only solution is to add self-regulation, or by professionals and public to other two forces, market and state regulation.In this controversial volume, Claude-Jean Bertrand sets out to define a set of accountability systems--democratic, efficient, and harmless--to insure true freedom and of media. This brief, highly literate volume focuses not on philosophical foundations of ethics or case stories, but on what is now missing in codes. Many books deal with ethics but few deal with accountability. Media Ethics and Accountability Systems zeroes in on many nongovernmental methods of enforcing quality control, and on difficulty of getting microcosm to accept such accountability. To remedy this lack, Bertrand proposes rethinking existing media accountability systems, some 30 to 40 in number, and creation of new ones. He observes that existing systems are rooted in four basic approaches: training: education of citizens in use and incorporation of ethics courses in journalistic education; evaluation: criticism (positive and negative) not only from politicians, consumerists, and intellectuals, but from professionals themselves; monitoring: by independent, academic experts over extended periods of time into long-term effects; and feedback: giving ear to various segments of users and their needs and tastes, rather than scrutinizing sales and ratings.Media Ethics will be of particular interest to academics in fields of communication and journalism, as well as to general reader with an interest in public issues and a civic concern for society.