Chapter 16: Media Responsibility 2.0: A New Responsibility Model in the Media Sector

We are living in an era, where we experience multiple challenges as a global community. Financial crisis and technological development shape new landscapes and results in new values. Moreover, social organizations, institutions and companies face an enormous credibility crisis.¹ In these turbulent times, the demand for responsible, sustainable behavior on behalf of the social, political and economical sector, as well as responsibility as a political act for every citizen seems a necessity (Giddens, 1999).

Media today are experiencing, more than ever, a legitimization, trustworthiness and accountability crisis (Cohen & Levy, 2008) that relates to the risks and challenges we are facing as a global community. Public opinion stands critical or overly opposite to media practices and demands quality and accountability in news production, both in terms of content production and dissemination (by journalists), as well as corporate governance and business strategy by media owners.