Between the Expected and the Experienced: Assessing the Public's Perception of Journalism Ethics and Objectivity in Latvia

Anda Rožukalne^1*Ieva Strode²

• ¹Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia
• ²University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia

In the focus of our research is the media audience perception of journalistic ethical practice, contributing to the discussion of audience agency in the contemporary public sphere. In this study, we interpreted the characteristic features of Latvian journalistic cultures depending on accountability to determine the extent to which the audience's/public's assessment of ethical behavior is related to the media user's experience and existing views on ethical media practice. Using expectations-and discourse-based approaches in our analysis, we contextualize audience perception of journalism ethics with current global and geopolitical crises, as well as the peculiarities of Latvia, where media content published in Latvian and Russian is relatively separate, while media content in Russian is influenced by the media culture and traditions of neighboring Russia. An ethnically divided society also refers to a linguistically divided media audience, as approximately one-third of Latvia's population consumes Russian-language media. The audience's attitude towards the media has also been affected by recent crises.Thus, we believe that our study meets one of the most important goals of the journal to discuss the processes of public digital communication from the perspectives of media ethics and media accountability.