Media Accountability and Journalists: To Whom Do Spanish Professionals Feel Responsible? |
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| Authors: | María-Ángeles Chaparro-Domínguez Juan-Carlos Suárez-Villegas Ruth Rodríguez-Martínez |
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| Institution: | 1. Journalism and Global Communication/Faculty of Information Science, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain ma.chaparro@ucm.es https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7571-388X;3. Communication/Faculty of Communication, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2199-7028;4. Communication/Faculty of Communication, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5633-6126 |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT This paper analyses to whom Spanish journalists feel responsible. To achieve this objective, we sent out a survey to Spanish journalists to ascertain their opinion on this question. The journalists’ point of view was then compared with that of the general public though six focus groups consisting of Spanish citizens from six cities in Spain (Barcelona, Castellón, Madrid, Sevilla, Mondragón and Santiago de Compostela). Lastly, five in-depth interviews were conducted with journalism experts (e.g., directors of professional journalist associations). The main results show that the journalists feel particularly responsible to their conscience, the journalism code of ethics and their sources. The citizens, in contrast, believe that journalists should be responsible to the audience. We contextualised the Spanish finding in the European context by comparing our results with those derived from a study among European journalists. |
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| Keywords: | Citizens conscience journalists media accountability responsibility Spain |
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![ORCID Icon]({"type":"image","src":"/templates/jsp/images/orcid.png"} "ORCID Icon")
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7571-388X;3. Communication/Faculty of Communication, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain