Media transparency
Media transparency is a term used to describe different ways in which and why information is transmitted.
The term is a special case of transparent politics . As with its use in politics , transparency requires openness and responsibility and is a metaphorical extension of a term from optics: a transparent object can be seen through.
definition
In communication science , the media are transparent if:
- are numerous, complementary, independent and competing (in the sense of a search for the best result) sources of information are
- as much as possible is known about the type of information acquisition , transmission , processing and dissemination
- the financing of the media production is publicly available
Essential, but in individual cases not sufficient components of transparent media are documented, freely accessible sources , open meetings, the disclosure of balance sheets , the Freedom of Information Act , budget reviews , audits , peer reviews, etc.
Some organizations and networks demand that not only general information should be made freely available in the interest of society, but that all (or almost all) meta- levels and decision-making processes must be published (“radical transparency”). Examples of this form of transparency include Wikipedia , the GNU / Linux and Indymedia projects .
One of the goals is to structurally prevent the build-up of knowledge of authority (and its consolidation) .
Examples
When an organization (corporation, government, NPO, etc.) holds a meeting, the advice is freely available to the public and the press , including at:
- Broadcasts on the radio
- Discussions on television
- Reports in newspapers
- Entries in weblogs
A meeting is usually transparent as there are fewer opportunities for the organization to abuse the information transfer system for its own interests. This assumes that the organization does not own any media or that it does not otherwise influence the transmission of information.
Related topics
- Media manipulation : includes methods of excessive or inappropriate interference in the media, through funding sources , personal or organizational prejudice or other influences.
- Privacy : withholds information from media attention anonymously or discreetly , for example for military or judicial reasons. Privacy and transparency each have their advantages. Privacy can protect a news source from retaliation, increase the number of scandals exposed, increase national security , and the like, but excessive privacy can lead to political corruption , statism, and military dictatorship .
- Freedom of expression : if a censorship decree blocks publication in the media, as in the media policy of Silvio Berlusconi , where Berlusconi, for example, in the Raiot case , after public criticism of his media empire on the television program RAIot, obtained a cancellation of the program.
- Suppression of the opposition : when a powerful opponent tries to silence the other side.