The Missing Link: Online Media Accountability Practices and Their Implications for European Media Policy

Can online media criticism form a robust basis for media accountability? The authors report that the perceived impact of such criticism illustrates notable national differences. Based on a survey of journalists from twelve European and two Arab countries, they find online participatory accountability models to be least influential in countries with well-developed media accountability practices, and most valued in countries without a long tradition of media self-regulation. However, they find that the former are gradually losing control of such practices, and suggest that the practices be institutionalized under the form of “regulated self-regulation” to provide a clear framework.