Different national media systems shape different media accountability cultures. Varying effects of media accountability in different nations are an evident consequence. Scholarship provides models to compare media accountability cultures. However, scholars have hardly conceptualized questions on the effectiveness of media accountability for empirical research. A comprehensive approach to the topic needs to consider both: the impact on as well as the impact of media accountability. Setting this as an objective, I adopt the idea to explore the impact on media accountability through The Hierarchy of Influences. To investigate the impact of media accountability I employ concepts of reflection. The combination of the two approaches results in the circular impact model. This model invites further research on media accountability – single-case or cross-country efforts, within the usual Euro-American focus or beyond.

[FULL PUBLICATION IN: Fengler, S. et al. (edts.) (2019): Media Accountability in the Era of Post-Truth Politics, p. 36–51]