CONTESTED AUTONOMY

Abstract

Commitments to truth and to “transparency,” or public accountability, are two central normative aspects of professional journalism. This article considers ways in which both are challenged and complemented by popular communicators, particularly bloggers, in today's media environment. While all professions claim autonomy over articulation and enactment of their own norms, definitions of professional constructs are now open to reinterpretation, and oversight of professional behavior is increasingly shared.

Keywords:

• accountability
• autonomy
• bloggers
• ethics
• journalists
• norms
• professionalism
• transparency
• truth

Notes

1. Some of the ideas in this article also are explored in the forthcoming book Online Journalism Ethics: Traditions and Transitions , co-authored by Cecilia Friend and Jane B. Singer. The book will be published by M. E. Sharpe of Armonk, New York, later this year.