| Summary: | In each of the media systems identified by Hallin and Mancini (2004), autonomy, professional norms and a public service ethic are central indicators of journalism professionalisation, with codes of ethics and accountability solutions, such as press councils, germane. In the Liberal North Atlantic system, where Ireland is placed by Hallin and Mancini, autonomy and professional norms are well established pillars in academia’s understanding of journalism. Indeed, the theoretical work on press and media systems (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm 1956; Merrill 1974; Altschull 1984; Habermas 1989; McQuail 2010) recognises these characteristics. The idea of a public service orientation via a system of media accountability opens up a potentially valuable avenue for examining the journalistic professionalisation process. In Liberal North Atlantic countries, non-institutionalised or informal self-regulation of the press is common, Hallin and Mancini argued. The literature, however, suggests this regulation (press councils) has failed to provide the public with robust media accountability outcomes. Research in Canada (Pritchard 2000), the United States (Ugland 2000 & 2008), and in Britain (O’Malley and Soley 2000; Frost 2000 2004, 2015) support the conclusion that industry power over self-regulatory instruments has infected structures, procedures and decision-making. Thus, this study examines a new regulatory model which has received little attention to date – the independent and legislatively recognised Press Council of Ireland. Here, the formal process of institutionalisation has seen the codification of an accepted set of professional norms via a code of ethics thereby apparently strengthening the autonomy of journalists by clearly defining the journalistic role for industry and the public while also strengthening the concept of journalistic accountability. This thesis investigates whether the institutionalisation of independent press regulation in the Irish case has established a robust accountability framework for the ...
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