* Real world studies of accountability in broadcast news, cable TV, newspapers and other media

'Everyone agress that news media cannot be rued solely by the profit motive and that government regulation on media is extremely dangerous. How then can we obtain good service from news media? As far as ethics is concerned, can we depend on the moral conscience of the professionals to insure good service? The answer is M*A*S, nongovernmental media accountability systems. This book concentrates on M*A*S as one of the three pillars of good news media, together with free enterprise and state regulation. It presents general information about the major media accountability systems and their usefulness (press council, ombudsman, journalism review, etc.).--COVER.

This handbook is one of the first comprehensive research and teaching tools for the developing area of global media ethics. The advent of new media that is global in reach and impact has created the need for a journalism ethics that is global in principles and aims. For many scholars, teachers and journalists, the existing journalism ethics, e.g. existing codes of ethics, is too parochial and national. It fails to provide adequate normative guidance for a media that is digital, global and practiced by professional and citizen. A global media ethics is being constructed to define what responsible public journalism means for a new global media era. Currently, scholars write texts and codes for global media, teach global media ethics, analyse how global issues should be covered, and gather together at conferences, round tables and meetings. However, the field lacks an authoritative handbook that presents the views of leading thinkers on the most important issues for global media ethics. This handbook is a milestone in the field, and a major contribution to media ethics.

A small collection of well-honed tools has been employed for some time by media practitioners and the public to help maintain and improve the credibility of journalism and the mass media. These media accountability tools have included ethics codes, media critics, news councils, ombudsmen, journalism reviews and pubic/civic journalism initiatives. Now, in the 21st Century, the mass media are increasingly being buffeted by a perfect storm of declining subscribers and audience share, dwindling advertising revenue, changing corporate demands, unpredictable audiences and new-media competition. If journalism and the mass media are to stay afloat and be credible, the media accountability toolbox needs to contain suitable tools for the job, which begs the question: Who will Watch the Watchdog in the Twitter Age? This book contains answers to this question from the perspective of 17 media ethics experts from around the globe. Their answers will help shape and define for years to come the tools in the media ethics toolbox. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics.

Media accountability is back on the political agenda. This book advances research on media accountability and transparency, and also offers perspectives for newsrooms, media policy-makers, and journalism educators.

How, when, and to what extent should people be able to talk back to the media; what works, what doesn't, what's possible? This volume, sponsored by the Gannett Center for Media Studies at Columbia University and the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota, examines these and other issues. With a deep concern for freedom from censorship and a strong awareness of our constitutional franchise of freedom of expression, the editors and contributors seek to define meaningful forums where citizens can air their views about media to a large enough audience to make a significant impact. The strong sense of urgency in forming these investigations results from the recognition of mass media's central and powerful role in both public and consumer life; the ability of mass media to help or harm is indisputable. The recognition of media impact by editors, broadcasting groups, corporate owners, and researchers in diverse fields, has made the public's view of the press a highly visible item on the public agenda. In spite of this, discussions of media accountability have remained conceptually muddled and formal means for public feedback have been few and feeble. The editors of Media Freedom and Accountability present and assess several forms of media accountability that function effectively within free speech parameters. They include the marketplace model, the self-regulatory model, the voluntary model, the fiduciary model, and the litigation model. Discussions of these models include evaluations of letters-to-the-editor columns, radio talk shows, ethical codes, ombudsmen, press councils, citizens groups such as Accuracy in Media, the FCC and FTC, and the court system of redress. Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper's; Alfred Balk, former editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and now with World Press Review; and Kenneth Morgan of the British Press Council, among other contributors, offer thoughtful and informative essays that approach the subject from various pragmatic and philosophical stances. Media Freedom and Accountability is made-to-order for courses in mass media, for all media practitioners, and for all those concerned with the scope of media in the United States and with methods of public response.