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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| Izdano u: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs, |
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Comunicação e sociedade
2025
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| Online pristup: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_12972 |
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openedition |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Anglais |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
transparência da propriedade dos média responsabilização do mercado mediático regulamentação e autorregulação dos média países bálticos cultura da responsabilidade transparency of media ownership media market accountability media regulation and self-regulation Baltic countries culture of responsibility |
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transparência da propriedade dos média responsabilização do mercado mediático regulamentação e autorregulação dos média países bálticos cultura da responsabilidade transparency of media ownership media market accountability media regulation and self-regulation Baltic countries culture of responsibility Rožukalne, Anda Balčytienė, Auksė Harro-Loit, Halliki Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis |
| 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. |
| author |
Rožukalne, Anda Balčytienė, Auksė Harro-Loit, Halliki |
| author_facet |
Rožukalne, Anda Balčytienė, Auksė Harro-Loit, Halliki |
| author_sort |
Rožukalne, Anda |
| title |
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_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_sort |
towards responsible media: understanding the baltic countries’ traits through the lens of transparency and accountability analysis |
| publisher |
Comunicação e sociedade |
| publishDate |
2025 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs |
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https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cs/12972 |
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1877292167137853440 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:cs_12972 en https://journals.openedition.org/cs/12972 2025-01-09T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/131v8 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Towards Responsible Media: Understanding the Baltic Countries’ Traits Through the Lens of Transparency and Accountability Analysis Comunicação e sociedade Centro de estudos de comunicação e sociedade info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2183-3575 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1645-2089 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cs Rožukalne, Anda Balčytienė, Auksė Harro-Loit, Halliki transparência da propriedade dos média responsabilização do mercado mediático regulamentação e autorregulação dos média países bálticos cultura da responsabilidade transparency of media ownership media market accountability media regulation and self-regulation Baltic countries culture of responsibility 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. Este artigo explora o conceito de um “ambiente mediático responsável” através das características de propriedade das organizações mediáticas. Destaca a importância da “transparência na propriedade dos média” e associa-a ao conceito de “responsabilização do mercado mediático”. Como estudo de caso, analisa os três países bálticos, avaliando como o ideal normativo da transparência da propriedade dos média é aplicado nas organizações mediáticas da Estónia, Letónia e Lituânia. Com base no quadro metodológico e teórico da monitorização dos média noticiosos (Trappel & Tomaz, 2022), que sublinha a essência da transparência da propriedade como uma oportunidade válida para avaliar a responsabilidade das organizações mediáticas, o artigo examina como são promovidas relações responsáveis e abertas com o público em mercados marcados por tradições e características estruturais específicas, como a sua pequena dimensão. O exemplo dos países bálticos demonstra que a pequena dimensão do mercado mediático resulta numa maior dependência de aspetos “informais” nas relações relativas à transparência da propriedade dos média. Contudo, o mesmo elemento de “informalidade” contribui para a aparente deficiência e risco identificados na perspetiva da responsabilização dos média, que afeta as expressões de poder da propriedade dos média, por exemplo, através de intervenções editoriais. Tal como explicado, os fatores históricos contextuais determinam o resultado, uma vez que a rápida transição do socialismo para o capitalismo nestes países, no início da década de 1990, impediu o desenvolvimento de uma cultura de responsabilização nas organizações mediáticas. Ainda hoje, a ausência de mecanismos de responsabilização do mercado mediático do Báltico favorece o risco de a agenda dos proprietários determinar, prioritariamente, as responsabilidades, a independência editorial e o desempenho dos média. |