Eesti ajakirjanike hinnangud ajakirjanduse aruandekohustuse ja vastutuse suhtes

Abstract

Keywords: journalist’s attitudes, media ethics, professional values, responsibility, accountability, transparency, self-regulation, Estonian journalism, MediaAct. “This bachelor’s thesis is titled „Attitudes towards accountability and responsibility among Estonian journalists.” The main aim of the paper is to find answers to the following questions about Estonian journalism: Who or what holds journalists accountable? Which internal and external factors have an impact on their everyday work and their attitudes towards the media accountability, media accountability systems and media criticism in Estonian journalism? In order to discuss those issues, statistical analysis was performed with the results of a survey which was conducted among 140 professional journalists in Estonia. Results of the survey showed that the presence of media self-criticism and accountability is marginal in Estonia. It is more likely to happen within an organization than within public sphere. The concept of organization is also crucial, when it comes to daily practices of journalist, since they consider the instructions coming mainly from upper level and chief-editors as the most important influential factor when it comes to their job. The internal and individual level comes into play only when considering responsibility. In such case we argue that professional and individual responsibility is clearly dominant among Estonian journalists. Taking that into account, point must be made that although individual and professional responsibility is ranked high, those values do not stand a chance going against organizational values, due to lack of individual autonomy among journalists. Main factors which hold back the effectiveness and full presence of media accountability systems in Estonia are the following: lack of individual autonomy among journalists; organizations’ high dependence on financial aspects and the effects of commercialization; and the lack of knowledge and incapability to see media accountability in every day context among journalists.