ACCOUNTING FOR JOURNALISM

Annual editorial reports are emerging as a prominent example of media accountability systems. This particular device is designed as a response to the increasing need for the justification and legitimation of journalism. Increasing transparency is often stated as a goal of these editorial reports. The critical question, then, is how such ambitions are realized. Do annual editorial reports promote a genuine public discourse about journalistic standards? Or will the arrangement inevitably degenerate into just another example of strategic communication? Is this actually an accountability system or is it first and foremost an incidence of self-promotion and marketing? To what extent do annual editorial reports include cooperation with the audience? This paper offers a reading of examples of annual editorial reports, in order to understand their vices and virtues as an accountability system.