Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis
This paper explores the idea of a “responsible media environment” through the lens of media organisations’ ownership characteristics. It highlights the significance of “transparency in media ownership” and connects it to the concept of “media market accountability”. As a case example, it looks at th...
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Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade (CECS)
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Comunicação e Sociedade |
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| Online Access: | https://revistacomsoc.pt/index.php/revistacomsoc/article/view/5693 |
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| author | Anda Rožukalne Auksė Balčytienė Halliki Harro-Loit |
| author_facet | Anda Rožukalne Auksė Balčytienė Halliki Harro-Loit |
| author_sort | Anda Rožukalne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper explores the idea of a “responsible media environment” through the lens of media organisations’ ownership characteristics. It highlights the significance of “transparency in media ownership” and connects it to the concept of “media market accountability”. As a case example, it looks at the three Baltic countries by assessing how the normative ideal of transparency of media ownership is exercised at the level of media organisations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Building on the methodological and theoretical framework of news media monitoring (Trappel & Tomaz, 2022), which highlights the essence of ownership transparency as a valid opportunity to assess the accountability of media organisations, the paper analyses how responsible and open relationships with the audience are fostered in markets defined by specific traditions and structural features, such as their small size. The example of the Baltic countries shows that the small size of the media market leads to a greater reliance on “informal” aspects in relationships regarding media ownership transparency. However, the same element of “informality” contributes to the apparent deficiency and risk identified in the media accountability perspective, which affects expressions of media ownership power, for example, via editorial interventions. As explained, contextual historical factors determine the result, as the rapid transition from socialism to capitalism in these countries in the early 1990s prevented the development of a culture of responsibility among media organisations. Even today, the lack of market accountability instruments in the Baltic media market contributes to the risk that the agenda of media owners primarily determines responsibilities, editorial independence, and media performance.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-28dca4d950424c08bcc5574cf65f159a |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1645-2089 2183-3575 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Centro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade (CECS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comunicação e Sociedade |
| spelling | doaj-art-28dca4d950424c08bcc5574cf65f159a2025-08-20T02:52:27ZengCentro de Estudos de Comunicação e Sociedade (CECS)Comunicação e Sociedade1645-20892183-35752024-12-014610.17231/comsoc.46(2024).5693Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability AnalysisAnda Rožukalne0Auksė Balčytienė1Halliki Harro-Loit2Social Sciences Research Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences, Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, LatviaDepartment of Public Communications, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania/Vytautas Kavolis Transdisciplinary Research Institute, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, LithuaniaInstitute of Social Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, EstoniaThis paper explores the idea of a “responsible media environment” through the lens of media organisations’ ownership characteristics. It highlights the significance of “transparency in media ownership” and connects it to the concept of “media market accountability”. As a case example, it looks at the three Baltic countries by assessing how the normative ideal of transparency of media ownership is exercised at the level of media organisations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Building on the methodological and theoretical framework of news media monitoring (Trappel & Tomaz, 2022), which highlights the essence of ownership transparency as a valid opportunity to assess the accountability of media organisations, the paper analyses how responsible and open relationships with the audience are fostered in markets defined by specific traditions and structural features, such as their small size. The example of the Baltic countries shows that the small size of the media market leads to a greater reliance on “informal” aspects in relationships regarding media ownership transparency. However, the same element of “informality” contributes to the apparent deficiency and risk identified in the media accountability perspective, which affects expressions of media ownership power, for example, via editorial interventions. As explained, contextual historical factors determine the result, as the rapid transition from socialism to capitalism in these countries in the early 1990s prevented the development of a culture of responsibility among media organisations. Even today, the lack of market accountability instruments in the Baltic media market contributes to the risk that the agenda of media owners primarily determines responsibilities, editorial independence, and media performance. https://revistacomsoc.pt/index.php/revistacomsoc/article/view/5693transparency of media ownershipmedia market accountabilitymedia regulation and self-regulationBaltic countriesculture of responsibility |
| spellingShingle | Anda Rožukalne Auksė Balčytienė Halliki Harro-Loit Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis Comunicação e Sociedade transparency of media ownership media market accountability media regulation and self-regulation Baltic countries culture of responsibility |
| title | Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| title_full | Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| title_short | Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| title_sort | towards responsible media understanding the baltic countries traits through the lens of transparency and accountability analysis |
| topic | transparency of media ownership media market accountability media regulation and self-regulation Baltic countries culture of responsibility |
| url | https://revistacomsoc.pt/index.php/revistacomsoc/article/view/5693 |
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