Media Accountability: Who Will Watch the Watchdog in the Twitter Age?

A small collection of well-honed tools are, and have been for some time, employed 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 public/civic journalism initiatives. Now, in the 21stCentury, 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 toolbox needs to contain suitable tools for the job. Media Accountability answers the overriding question if this current stituation: Who Will Watch the Watchdog in the Twitter Age? Taken from the perspective of 15 international media ethics experts, their responses will help shape and define the tools in the media ethics toolbox. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics.