Between Self-Regulation and Participatory Monitoring: Comparing Digital News Media Accountability Practices in Spain

Abstract

In recent years, the accountability practices of digital journalism have gone from constituting an intimate and self-regulatory system of journalistic culture to a complex process that is increasingly external and open to the public (Fengler, Eberwein, Mazzoleni, Porlezza, & Russ-Mohl, 2014; Suárez-Villegas, Rodríguez-Martínez, Mauri-Ríos, & López-Meri, 2017). In this context, values and goals may remain diverse, arguably linked to idiosyncratic elements which often open a gap between traditional and more contemporary newsroom models. Following a qualitative approach, this study examines online media accountability instruments from a functional perspective, dividing its influence in three temporal phases of news production (Heikkilä et al., 2012). In this way, instruments that hold journalists responsible for their work are explored in four leading online news media from Spain: two digital native outlets (<em>Eldiario.es</em> and <em>ElConfidencial.com</em>) and two legacy outlets (<em>ElPais.com</em> and <em>ElMundo.es</em>). In addition to this observation, in-depth interviews are conducted with staff members in charge of audience management to explore the inner routines and protocols that determine the efficacy of such aspirations.<strong> </strong>Our work reveals the preponderant role of instruments focused on the actor and production transparency that the studied media implement to fulfill their responsibility, especially when compared with the weakened self-regulation instruments. The answers of the interviewees stress the difficulties they face in managing participatory forms of accountability and disclose tensions between different strategies, as well as other structural factors that are discussed as essential for the consolidation of these deontological initiatives.

Personal data and personalisation in media: experts’ perceptions of value, benefits, and risks

“…lack of uniformity, stringency, motivation to intervene, technical constraints), evaluating "collaborative" and "community-based" alternatives is useful, i.e. participatory monitoring (P erez-Dı ´az et al, 2020;Rutschman, 2022). Media industry initiatives to uniformise and enhance transparency are Personal Data Receipts (PDR) [3].…”

Social participation in the media: The dialogue of digital journalists with audiences

“…Social media are a suitable avenue to receive ideas and opinions and to find topics, but not to establish dialogue with readers (Suárez-Villegas, 2017). Journalists are willing to correct formal errors or data, but do not want interference in their editorial decisions (Pérez-Díaz et al, 2020).…”

Indicadores para evaluar la rendición de cuentas en los medios de comunicación

“…La audiencia crea contenidos (produser) y participa a través de las plataformas digitales (Bruns, 2015;Pérez-Soler & Micó-Sanz, 2020). En la era de la deliberación digital (Masip et al, 2019), se fomenta la relación directa con las audiencias en su creación, revisión y crítica de la información (Eberwein et al, 2011;Fuente-Cobos et al, 2014;Pérez-Díaz et al, 2020). Las audiencias pueden jugar un rol transformativo, corresponsabilizándose de la actividad de la información periodística de rendir cuentas (Culver, 2017).…”