Media Accountability in the Digital Age: Governance, Ethics, and Press Freedom

The rise of social media and algorithmic curation has fundamentally transformed media ecosystems. These developments have heightened accountability concerns, prompting urgent scholarly attention to governance, ethics, and press freedom, including the risks that digital platforms pose to democracy. To mark World Press Freedom Day, this Research Topic offers a timely platform for examining media independence. Regulatory responses, such as the EU Digital Services Act and similar frameworks worldwide, aim to strengthen content transparency and platform oversight. Current debates center on how normative standards and structural reforms can help journalism adapt to digital convergence and sustain informed public discourse. This backdrop underscores the critical need for research on balanced and accountable media practices.The central challenge is the erosion of media accountability within digital ecosystems. Anonymity, virality, and platform power often undermine ethical journalism and governance mechanisms. This facilitates the amplification of disinformation and the polarization of public spheres, where filter bubbles and the erosion of shared facts pose acute risks to civic health.This Research Topic aims to address these challenges by bringing together interdisciplinary research that advances our understanding of accountability tools, ethical standards, and regulatory models. We welcome explorations of governance solutions, such as risk-based platform regulations and transparency mandates. Key reference points include developments in AI-driven content moderation, blockchain for transparency, and initiatives on dialogic communication ethics. Contributions, whether in the form of empirical studies, theoretical frameworks, or policy analyses, will strengthen scholarship and inform practice. They will also support SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, Strong Institutions) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), informing resilient public discourse research in hyper-connected societies.We invite original, in-depth analyses at the intersection of media and public discourse. Submissions focusing solely on emotional psychology or technological developments without a clear connection to accountability, governance, or press freedom, are not in scope for this Research Topic.Potential areas of focus for manuscripts include, but are not limited to, the following:• ethical and legal regulation of digital media• media accountability mechanisms and innovations• governance challenges in platform-dominated ecosystems• disinformation, hate speech, and threats to press freedom• political communication and deliberative public spheres• journalistic ethics in algorithmic environments• social media impacts on civic participation and social cohesion• normative frameworks for media responsibility• risks for democracy posed by social media (e.g., polarization and interference)• potential governance solutions for social media platforms.We encourage the submission of Original Research, Perspective, and Review manuscripts that offer detailed insight into the role of responsible media in sustaining informed public discourse. Topic editors: Matthias Karmasin, Tobias Eberwein Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78438/media-accountability-in-the-digital-age-governance-ethics-and-press-freedom