Cultures of accountability: On the intersection of accountability, media and popular reality

Abstract

This article proposes the concept of ‘cultures of accountability’ as a way to think about the intersection between media, accountability and popular reality. Noting concerns regarding the emergence of accountability as a cultural keyword, I identify schisms in the deliberation of accountability between an ‘administrative’ and ‘redactive’ formation and explore their interaction and coexistence. Building a bridge between the public administration, journalism studies, media studies and cultural studies literatures, the article posits a more complicated picture of the operation of the ‘media’ in accountability debates and invites analysis and discussion of the communicative and discursive conditions of accountability. Journalistic discourse and practice forms not only a site of encounter between different cultures of accountability but also a forum for discussion of cultural expectations surrounding accountability. Critically revisiting the ‘watchdog’ conception of the news media, the article argues for approaches to journalism open to the yoking of public administration, media accountability and cultural studies approaches and greater awareness of different cultures of accountability.