This article presents key results of a comparative journalists’ survey on media accountability, for which 1762 journalists in 14 countries had been interrogated online. The article explores how European journalists perceive the impact of old versus new media accountability instruments on professional journalistic standards – established instruments like press councils, ethics codes, ombudsmen and media criticism, but also more recent online instruments like newsroom blogs and criticism via social media. Thus, the study also adds empirical data to the current debate about the future of media self-regulation in Europe, ignited by the Leveson Inquiry in the United Kingdom as well as the European Commission’s High-Level Group on Media Freedom and Pluralism.

The article explores training programs in higher education with regard to data journalism from a multi-national perspective. By carrying out a comparative analysis in six European countries (Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom), it covers different models of media systems and journalistic cultures envisaged by Hallin and Mancini. Based on a desk review and in-depth interviews with instructors of data journalism in each country, the article identifies different approaches to the way data journalism is taught. In Europe, such programs are offered by four types of organizations: academic, vocational, professional, and civic. The role played by those organizations can be explained as a result of the peculiarities of national media systems. But there are also commonalities, for example, non-academic institutions (such as the European Journalism Center or the Center for Investigative Journalism) and major international news outlets (such as The Guardian and The New York Times) seem to take over a leading role in all of the analyzed countries. Generally speaking, data journalism education appears to be a very young discipline that frequently neglects fundamental journalistic topics such as ethical issues, transparency, accountability, and responsiveness although they are crucial in a journalistic field as sophisticated tools to reveal hidden aspects of reality.

While citizen journalists hope to bring new impulses to mass media performance, it is often asked whether they are adequately trained for the production of “newsworthy” stories. This paper focuses on educational aspects of citizen journalism, which, to date, have largely been disregarded by empirical research. A comparative analytical design illustrates the different ways in which citizen journalists acquire and develop the skills that are necessary to undertake journalistic activities in the different journalism cultures throughout Europe. The authors carried out a multi-national analysis in six European countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Poland). In each country, an extensive desk study helped to map the field of citizen journalism and highlight the most relevant examples. Semi-structured interviews with 54 practitioners in the field (representing different types of citizen journalism) made it possible to identify the alternative strategies that citizen journalists employ to prepare themselves for news production initiatives. The research demonstrates that the educational backgrounds of citizen journalists display differences as well as similarities—both within and across journalism cultures. While some of the actors in the field have a clear idea of what constitutes good journalism (and sometimes even aspire to work in a mainstream media organization), others seem to care little about journalistic standards and have only a vague idea about the identity of the profession. On the basis of these insights, the paper develops a typology of citizen journalists that takes into account both their education and their journalistic scope.

Public service media (PSM) are confronted with a continuing debate about public remits, performance, efficiency, and the public value of its offerings, and in many countries, public service organisations are put under pressure by political initiatives that question and oppose the traditional public funding models. This paper contributes to the debate about funding models and the assessment of public service media by exploring the relationship between funding (input) and audience performance (impact). Results of a comparative analysis of 17 European countries indicate that funding of PSM affects its audience performance. Broadcasters with stronger public income achieve higher market shares, stronger relevance as an information source, and greater trust in independence from external constraints. The findings underline the sensitivities around political reforms that aim at changes of PSM funding models. On the basis of the empirical analysis, the authors argue that substantial budget cuts or the abolition of public funding will probably lead to declines in audience performance—and a loss of relevance of public service media.

Purpose: This editorial is an introduction to the special issue on CSR communication related to the 4th CSR Communication Conference, held in Vienna (Austria) in September 2017. The purpose of this paper is to critically reflect on the state-of-the-art in academic research on CSR communication concepts, strategies and future scenarios.Design/methodology/approach: The editorial critically evaluates existing academic research dealing with CSR communication in the digital age. More precisely, it analyses established theories and concepts of CSR communication in terms of their fit to meet future challenges.Findings: It can be noted that CSR communication practice is heading for new shores. Economic pressure, legal and political requirements, reputation risks in a digital media ecology and a new civic-minded and well-being-oriented generation of employees require a reorientation of CSR communication from information to impact orientation. Thus, the authors complement the approach of communication about CSR with the concept of communicative responsibility as a normative framework for corporate communication in the future.Originality/value: The analyzed literature as well as the papers of the CSR Communication Conference indicate that the authors are heading toward a future of impact- instead of information-oriented communication. Here, communicative responsibility comes in as a fourth dimension of corporate responsibility, offering a normative framework for strategic, impact-oriented sustainability communication, integrated reporting and internal CSR.