ABSTRACT
The media accountability process is moved into action whenever someone asks a journalist or a news organisation to explain professional behaviour and justify its consequences. In the circular impact model (CIM), the shifting importance of the levels in media systems increases the applicability. The CIM considers the dependencies in both directions, which dictates the model’s structure: it consists of two parts, one focusing on the impact on, the other on the impact of media accountability. Publications on national media accountability cultures show the distinct nature of media accountability across nations. The MediaAcT consortium took von Krogh’s idea a step further by discussing “context factors for self-regulation and media accountability in different journalistic cultures”. The connection of media accountability with the concepts of responsiveness or answerability implies questions about the impact of media accountability. The connection of media accountability with the concepts of responsiveness or answerability implies questions about the impact of media accountability.
