Online Media Accountability InstrumentsPart 2 - Beyond the newsroom

By Boguslawa Dobek-Ostrowska, Michal Glowacki & Michal Kus

Session 10

Photo: imago/ecomedia/robert fishman

“...for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.”

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html

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Session 10 - Online media accountability instruments (2. Outside the newsroom )

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Media accountability online practices - outside media organizations (main features)

• media accountability (MA) practices that stem from activities outside media organizations

• objective of holding media accountable

• usually far less institutionalized than those fostered by the media

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Media accountability online practices:outside media organizations

• Websites of MA institutions

• Media journalism websites

• Academic mediawatch sites

• Civil society groups

• Media watchblogs

• Media criticism in social media

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Websites of MA institutions

PCC (UK), KRRIT (Poland), Presserat (Germany), Press Council of Ireland

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Media journalism websites

MediaGuardian and Press Gazette (UK) and WirtualNeMedia (Poland)

Academic mediawatch websites

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Civil society interventions

Increasingly, special interest groups in society have started to scrutinize the behavior and output of print, broadcast and online journalists.

They may represent professions, minority groups, religious organizations, or simply ‘concerned citizens’.

They include academics who study the practice of journalism and the political economy of the media.

Their comments and motives may vary enormously, but as recipients or consumers of media output they do represent some of the publics journalists claim to serve.

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Websites of civil society groups

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Media watch blogs

Media watch blogs criticize and expose failings in the mainstream media and are often written by members of the public.

They generally focus on the popular press (Media Blog, BILDBlog, Tabloid Watch) and deconstruct articles, pointing out factual errors, hypocrisy, inconsistency, misleading headlines, and an absence of fact-checking.

Many media watch blogs have come and gone, but some of the most popular and frequently updated have tens of thousands of followers on Twitter.

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Media watch blogs

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Watchblogs, motives and money

It has been argued by Spiller & Degen that watchblogs are currently ‘over-rated’ - they are inconsistent, concentrate mostly on the press, preach to the converted, and are mostly ‘leisure projects’.

To be more effective they need efficiency, professionalism, consistency and financing. But who would pay?

How ‘independent’ would bloggers be if they worked for an NGO or government-funded site?

Funding sources could create conflicts of interest and affect both motive and impact.

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Media criticism in social media: Twitterstorm

When a subject becomes widely discussed on Twitter, it can become a trending topic – one of the ten most discussed issues at a particular time in a particular location.

When this discussion becomes heated or angry, and the users call on someone to resign, or call on people to make complaints or sign petitions, it becomes a ‘Twitterstorm’.

Twitterstorms can result from anything such as politics anculture, but they most frequently concern articles on media.

Case study: Danny Dyer

In May 2010, actor Danny Dyer, the 'agony uncle' of weekly men's magazine Zoo, was criticised for telling a man that he should "cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her" in his advice column.

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Case study: Danny Dyer

Journalist and blogger Sarah Ditum highlighted the article on Twitter and it quickly spread before being picked up by mainstream media outlets, such as the Guardian. Dyer said he had been misquoted, while the magazine “apologised unreservedly” and blamed a “production error.” Within a week, the magazine announced that Dyer's column was to be dropped. July 2013

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When a film starring Dyer was released a month after the controversy, it took just £205 in its opening weekend.

An online fundraising campaign was launched to show 'more people care about domestic violence than about seeing Danny Dyer's films'. It raised over £800 for Solace Women’s Aid within one week.

Case study: Danny Dyer

Media criticism in social media: Facebook groups(Facebook protest against the removal of a Polish Radio Channel

show dedicated to electronic music)

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Crowdsourced media accountability?

Corrigo could help flag and correct factual errors, missing links and typos in online news sources.

It is a browser add-on that would allow people to highlight potential problems with an online article, and allows readers to see an article that has been flagged. See: www.corrigo.org

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Examples of online media analysis/criticismMedia blogsAcrimedEuropean Journalism ObservatoryJon SlatteryKristine LoweHold The Front PageL’Observatoire des MédiasPress Gazette (UK)Roy Greenslade at The Guardian

Watch blogsBackBlog (Austria) Bad PR (UK) BILDblog (Germany) Express Miracles (UK) Kobuk! (Austria) Krone Blog (Austria) Media Blog (UK) Media Monkey at The Guardian (UK)Tabloid Watch (UK) Zeit im Blog (Austria)

Media ethicsAfrican Network for Information Ethics (ANIE)Campaign for Press and Broadcasting FreedomCenter For International Media EthicsChurnalism (UK) / Churnalism (US) Ethical Journalism Network EthicNet – collection of European ethic codes German media ethics networkGerman Researchers dealing with media ethics International Center for Information Ethics The Leveson Inquiry Media Standards Trust MediaWise Trust

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MediaAcT survey – who criticizes journalists most?The MediaAcT survey of 1,762 journalists from across Europe, which took place in 2011-2012 asked journalists to consider complaints that had been made against them and/or their work.

The percentage of journalists who said they had never been criticized by the public on blogs or on social media were 64.8% and 50% respectively.

The percentage who said they had never been criticized by the regulatory authority (88.7%), the ombudsman (78.7%) or the legal department (80.6%), was higher.

Criticism by fellow journalists on blogs or social media was also rarer than by the public using these methods.

The total who said they criticized sometimes, frequently, or often by the public on blogs (11.8%) and on social media (20.4%) was higher than that for the regulatory authority (2.1%), the press council (1.9%) and the legal department (2.9%). The percentage for media users/citizens was 33.1%, although it’s not clear what format such criticism takes.

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Internet - narrow pathway to media accountability

“...the sheer ease of contacting journalists may affect people’s tendencies to alert journalists to errors” (Joseph 2011: 711)

“The internet has increased people’s readinessto call the news media to account.”

SOURCE: MediaACT survey of 1,762 journalists in 14 countries

AGREE59% of

journalists

DISAGREE20% of

journalists

“..the more substantial developments currently influencing journalism are largely extensions of public behaviours that had existed without the enabling technology

(Kline and Burstein, 2005) but operated in a less visible and influential way” (Bivens 2008: 113)

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Age makes a difference

“The internet has increased people’s readiness to call the news media to account.”

AGREE

DISAGREE

Source: MediaAcT survey of 1,762 journalists in 14 countries

71% of journalists aged 19-29

62% of journalists aged 30-39

53% of journalists

aged 50-59

49% of journalists aged

over 60

55% of journalists aged 40-49

13% of journalists aged 19-29

21% of journalists aged 30-39

21% of journalists aged 40-49

22% of journalists

aged 50-59

21% of journalists aged

over 60

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Social media as a form of accountability

Media blogs written by members of the public have

Criticism on social media (Facebook, Twitter) has

Source: MediaAcT survey of 1,762 journalists in 14 countries

SOME IMPACT12.3% of

journalists

LITTLE OR NO IMPACT

59.7% of journalists

SOME IMPACT21.5% of

journalists

LITTLE OR NO IMPACT

46.9% of journalists

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Things change fast on the internet

In the UK,71% of journalists say they are ‘more engaged with their

audience’ because of social media.

Journalists look at social media discussions about their content

Journalists replied to comments received on social media sites

Source: Social Journalism Study, conducted in 11 countries by Cision & Canterbury Christ Church University, 2012

AT LEAST DAILY36.7%

AT LEAST WEEKLY62.3%

AT LEAST DAILY28.1%

AT LEAST WEEKLY58.8%

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ReferencesBivens, R. K.. 2008. The Internet, Mobile Phones and Blogging: How new media are transforming traditional journalism. Journalism Practice 2. 1 : 113-129.

Cision and Canterbury Christ Church University. 2012. Social Journalism Study 2012. www.cision.com/uk/files/2012/09/Social-Journalism-Study-Full-Report.pdf

Grossman, L. 2006. You — Yes, You — Are TIME's Person of the Yearhttp://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html

Joseph, N. L. 2011. Correcting The Record: The impact of the digital news age on the performance of press accountability. Journalism Practice. 5. 6 : 704-718.

Spiller, R. and M. Degen. 2012. Watchblogs – an overrated tool for media criticism. Paper presented at Lugano conference, 27 January 2012.