Media Ownership Transparency and Editorial Autonomy as Corporate Social Responsibility in the Media Industry

Abstract

This paper focuses on media ownership transparency and editorial autonomy in Latvia from the point of view how media companies engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. This article takes a critical look at a representative sample of media outlets that relate to Latvia’s national peculiarities. The conclusion is that the ability of national media policy to really facilitate media ownership transparency and the editorial autonomy of media primarily does not depend on legal regulations, instead relies on co-regulation which links incentive national support policy for the media and their participation in a self-regulatory system.