Media Transparency is the concept of determining how and why information is conveyed through various means. This is a specific case of the topic, Transparency (humanities). As used in the humanities, it implies openness and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning used in the physical sciences: a “transparent” object is one that can be seen through. In communication studies, Media is transparent when:
- there are many, often competing, sources of information
- much is known about the method of information delivery
- the funding of media production is publicly available
Aspects of transparent media include open source documentation, open meetings, financial disclosure statements, the freedom of information legislation, budgetary review, audit, peer review, etc. Some organisations and networks insist that not only the ordinary information of interest to the community is made freely available, but that all (or nearly all) meta-levels of organising and decision-making are themselves also published. This is known as radical transparency. These organizations include: Wikipedia, the GNU/Linux community, and Indymedia.
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Example
When an organization (corporate, government, non-profit, or other) holds a meeting and the proceedings are open to the public and the press, when the meeting is:
- broadcast over radio
- reviewed on television
- reported in newsprint
- journalized on weblogs
The meeting is more transparent because there is less opportunity for the organization to abuse the system of information delivery in their own interest. This assumes that the organization does not own or otherwise affect the media conveying the information.
Related terms
- Distortion: involves some level of undue or inappropriate interference in the media through funding sources, personal or organizational bias, or some other influence.
- Privacy: obscuring a matter from media attention by anonymity, confidentiality, court order, military classification, or other means. There is value in both privacy and transparency. Privacy can protect a news source from retaliation, increase the number of whistleblowers, improve national security, and the like, but excessive privacy allows for increased corruption, statism, and military dictatorship.
- Freedom of speech if a censorship order is blocking the media from publishing.
- Suppression of dissent when a more powerful opponent tries to silence the other.
See also
- Communication
- Competition
- Journalism
- Media accountability
- Media responsibility
- Media manipulation
- Propaganda
- Mass Communication
- Deception
- SourceWatch
- Front organization
- Astroturfing
- Lobbying
- Mass Media
- Media bias
- Market transparency
- Freedom of information
