Transparency mechanisms in the media: Analysis of Spain and Portugal

Transparency in the media has become a fundamental pillar within all democratic societies, as a mechanism for reinforcing government regulation (Anderson, 2009) and citizen trust in institutions (Vos and Craft, 2016). Journalism, which has traditionally acted as a watchdog and a check on power, is n...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Renedo Farpón, Cristina, Canavilhas, Joao, Díez Garrido, María
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Valladolid
Repositorio:UVaDOC. Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid
OAI Identifier:oai:uvadoc.uva.es:10324/64821
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2023.ene.05
https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/64821
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Transparency, Accountability, Media opening, Media, Access to information, Transparency mechanisms, Media credibility, Journalistic innovation, Open journalism
Descripción
Sumario:Transparency in the media has become a fundamental pillar within all democratic societies, as a mechanism for reinforcing government regulation (Anderson, 2009) and citizen trust in institutions (Vos and Craft, 2016). Journalism, which has traditionally acted as a watchdog and a check on power, is now in the midst of a credibility crisis, compounded by polarization and the rise of disinformation. For this reason, various studies advocate that media outlets, just like institutions and governments, should use transparency mechanisms that allow them to respond directly or indirectly to society regarding the content they publish, as an exercise of responsibility. This research aims to evaluate media transparency in the Spanish-Portuguese landscape by means of an index that includes variables studied in the theoretical framework and that come from legislative, academic, and professional sources. These variables have been used to measure corporate and financial transparency, transparency in content production, openness to public participation, and the self-regulation mechanisms of ten media outlets in Spain and Portugal. This study concluded that, with only 43% adherence to the transparency variables analyzed, promoting accountability is still a work in progress for media outlets, and it must be stepped up at both the academic and professional levels.