Co-Regulation and Anti-Corruption in U.S. Journalism

ABSTRACT

U.S. journalism’s approach to self-regulation is decentralized, inconsistent, and is in some respects ineffective. Exclusive reliance on modern U.S. self-regulation presents several moral problems as it relates to journalism’s contribution as a public good. This article argues that co-regulation—a regulatory method that includes journalists and nonjournalists deliberating on press complaints—is a prospective complementary model to current forms of self-regulation that has had international success. Its inclusion of nonjournalists in press complaints deliberations reduces the potential for conflicts of interest, increases transparency, and by extension reduces vulnerability to institutional corruption as well as other types of institutional failure without compromising press freedom.