Monograph 1 (2025): Communication of information transparency and accountability

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Communication of information transparency and accountability

 

In the current communication ecosystem, information transparency acts as an essential mechanism to guarantee accountability and democracy. Transparency increases the credibility, legitimacy and trust indices of the media and there is even talk of the possibility of including transparency as part of the news (Koliska, 2022). Transparency is synonymous with journalistic quality (van der Wurff and Schönbach, 2011) and the media have been developing various instruments to render accounts to citizens, especially in the case of public media, where accountability systems they must be closely linked to the protection of the values of democracy, freedom, editorial independence or attention to minorities (Campos, 2012).

Information transparency constitutes a differentiation value that is fully integrated into the social responsibility of all types of organizations, although in recent years different digital options have appeared that allow more dynamic interaction with audiences (Suárez and Cruz, 2016). In Spain, Law 19/2013, of December 9, on transparency, access to public information and good governance conceived transparency and access to public information as fundamental axes of political action and linked the transparency of public activity to active advertising. The right of access to public information gave rise to transparency portals, although accessibility does not seem to be a key or definitive element to justify and guarantee full transparency (Gutiérrez et al., 2022).

The objective of this monograph is to compile research that responds to questions such as whether the development of new technologies and artificial intelligence really contributes to a greater and better contribution of information to citizens, whether the increase in citizen participation mechanisms favors information transparency, if accountability and information transparency should be part of the storytelling of journalistic texts, if active advertising improves democratic quality or if information transparency policies affect the perception and consideration that the public have of the media.

Themes:

  • Internal and external instruments of accountability in the media.

  • Audience advocates and transparency-oriented governance systems.

  • Active publicity and actors involved.

  • Accessibility of public information.

  • Transparency portals and communication strategies.

  • Narratives for information transparency.

  • Innovation for journalistic deontology and transparency.

  • Challenges of information transparency for robot journalism.

  • Co-creation and citizen participation.

  • Attention to diversity in information transparency.

Keywords: information transparency, accountability, regulatory bodies, governance systems, active advertising, public information, journalistic deontology.

References:

Campos, F. (2012). Los grupos de comunicación de Europa se concentran en la Agenda Digital 2020. Razón y Palabra, 79. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1995/199524411056.pdf

Gutiérrez, J., Callejo, M. C., & Agudo, Y. (2022). Una mirada a la transparencia informativa institucional a través de los Social Media. Doxa Comunicación, 34, 103-120. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n34a903

Koliska, M. (2022). Trust and Journalistic Transparency Online. Journalism Studies, 23(12), 1488-1509. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2022.2102532

Suárez, J. C., & Cruz, J. (2016). Los dilemas deontológicos del uso de las redes sociales como fuentes de información. Análisis de la opinión de los periodistas de tres países. Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, 71, 66-84. https://doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1084

van der Wurff, R., & Schönbach, K. (2011). Between profession and audience. Codes of conduct and transparency as quality instruments for off- and online journalism. Journalism Studies, 12(4), 407-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2010.506055

Deadline: 10 September 2024

 

Coordinated by:

Dr. José Sixto-García. University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences at the University of Santiago de Compostela where he teaches 'Regulatory Bodies and Systems' and 'Journalism and Innovation'. He holds a PhD in Communication with European Mention and Extraordinary Doctorate Award, a Master's Degree in Business Management, a Master's Degree in Teacher Training, and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism, also with Extraordinary End of Degree Award and Extraordinary Degree Award. His lines of research are the communicative scenarios of digital environments, networked narrative models, and journalistic regulation and ethics. He has more than 100 publications, most of them in scientific journals. His most recent publications include books such as Gestión profesional de redes sociales. Routines and strategies of Community Management (2018) or Fundamentos de marketing digital (2016), both published in Comunicación Social, and articles such as "Redefining journalism narratives, distribution strategies, and user involvement based on innovation in digital native media" and "Co-creation in North American and European digital native media: Web, social networks and offline spaces", published in Journalism (2022), or "News Sharing Using Self-destructive Content in Digital Native Media from an International Perspective", published in Journalism Practice (2021). He also accredits participation in several research projects at regional, national and European level. He received the Drago Latina Award in 2016 for the most cited article and has been invited as a guest lecturer at several foreign universities. Regarding transfer activities, he directed the Social Media Institute (2013-2019) and has carried out different actions with the business sector.

H-index: 17 (https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=65vIOnQAAAAJ)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2988-0975

 

Dra. Ana Duarte Melo.University of Minho (Portugal)

PhD in Communication Sciences, she is a lecturer in the Department of Communication Sciences at the Universidade do Minho (Portugal), where she is also vice-president of Communication at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais. Her lines of research focus on the study of communication in organisations and social dynamics, as well as the use of advertising as a platform for citizenship and democracy. She is also dedicated to the study of emerging participation in civil society. She is currently vice-president of the Participatory Communication Research Section of IAMCR (International Association for Media and Communication Research), where she is a member of the Task Force on the Global Alliance for Social and Behaviour Change. She is a member of the scientific council of the Territorial Knowledge Transfer Platform UM Cidades. He is also active in several national and international scientific associations, in particular ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association), where he directed the Organisational and Strategic Communication Section (2010-2016), and Sopcom (Sociedade Portuguesa de Comunicação). He has edited several international books on strategic communication and regulation, and organised and participated in many scientific meetings. Prior to academia, she worked for more than 18 years as a creative director and copywriter.

H-index: 6 (https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=JK4fVfgAAAAJ)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4598-7174

 

Dr. Pablo Escandón- Montenegro. Simon Bolivar Andean University (Ecuador)

He teaches at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar, Ecuador, where he coordinates the postgraduate programmes in Digital Communication and Transmedia Communication. He holds a PhD in Contemporary Communication and Information, a master's degree in Information and Knowledge Society, a master's degree in Digital Journalism, and a bachelor's degree in Communication and Literature. His main lines of research are cyberculture, digital narratives, cyberjournalism and technopolitics. His latest publications include books such as Cibermuseos Quiteños (2020), Comunicación cultural y patrimonial (2021), Comunicación 2020 (2021), Laboratorios de cultura digital (2022) and Tecnogobierno (2022).

H-index: 5 (https://scholar.google.es/citations?hl=es&user=2Y1lP4oAAAAJ)

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7806-6657