Transparency: Is it seen?

With the development of online journalism, transparency is a core part of it. The waters used to be slightly muddier, with the journalist acting as a gate keeper, telling the public what was in the news, and leaving little room for the questioning of the media.

In the last number of years, the mass media has demanded more transparency from the government and the banking system, they demand that certain documents be published, and that certain facts are out in the open. The passion of a journalist is to uncover  details that nobody ever wanted out in the public domain. But, although journalists are all for transparency in governmental matters, are they for transparency in their own career? Should the pubic be able to comment on and question journalists?

This boils back down to interactivity. Is it ever a good idea to allow readers to challenge journalists, when for so long it has been the case that journalists are largely trustworthy.

In the article ‘The Trouble with Transparency’, David Allen says that ‘Transparency…has at least two functions: it is an important part of the discovery of social truth, but it is also a way to gain access to the truth about the manufacturing of news. For journalists, it functions as a system of accountability and as a way of increasing legitimacy with citizens…’. I agree with both of these functions, I feel that through the transparency of journalism, only good can come of it. Why shouldn’t a journalist have to stand over their work and defend in in a public sphere like the internet?

Article: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a792547046 [Can be accessed through the DCU Library]

Image: http://ttoes.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/school-transparency.jpg