Between Public Responsibility and Public Relations: A Case Study of Editors' Attitudes Toward Media Accountability in Sweden

摘要

This article discusses the implementation and effectiveness of media accountability systems. Empirically, the article is based on a national survey of attitudes among editors-in-chief of the 24 largest Swedish newspapers. In this survey, different kinds of media accountability systems are evaluated and ranked by the editors: internal mechanisms, external activities, and cooperative systems. This case study of Swedish editors' attitudes toward different media accountability systems confirms that to some extent they prefer systems not perceived as "outside-in" regulations. When editors can pick and choose, the public relation dimension of media accountability is evident. But their ability to exclusively select accountability options becomes more limited because of media globalization trends, new technologies, and media regulatory efforts on the international level.