MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE INTERNET ERA: POLICY PROPOSALS

Against the backdrop of rapidly developing new information and communication technologies, media accountability should also improve and go online. However, such a leap is only possible if social and political conditions are amenable, and last but not least if there is a reinforcement of new media and digital culture. This paper attempts to suggest policy proposals for entrenching novel democratic media accountability mechanisms, including accountability practices on the web, on the basis of experiences of the media in four Balkan countries-Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey-belonging to the "polarised pluralist model" in Hallin and Mancini's (2004) typology of media systems and having similar problems. Three scenarios for turning media accountability online from a hypothesis into living practice are considered and specific proposals adjusted to the demands of the current complex media system are put forward.