Over lunch recently, in a conversation about the notion of a book on corporate accountability and the media, a senior newspaper executive neatly summarised why such a tome should not go into detail about the media’s own lack of transparency. “You won’t get it reviewed anywhere,” he said, agreeing that there is a “conspiracy of silence” that exists across global media about its own impact.

This neatly encapsulates the challenge that those seeking accountability from the sector face – this conspiracy of silence. Much like non-governmental organisations, which, when confronted with questions about their lack of social, environmental and impact reporting, claim the issues they focus on are far more important than their own footprint, media companies generally think transparency and corporate citizenship reporting is for someone else.

However, there is good reason for them to rethink. With trust in the media declining across much of the world, being more open about how media groups work must be a useful way of regaining some of that lost regard.

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