Transparency, the openness of an organizations' operations, is an increasingly important principle in most areas of contemporary democratic societies. Citizens expect organizations to be transparent, which means ensuring the availability of public interest information about decisions of state institutions like the government and the management of public funds. To this end, not only the media, but also non-profit, politically neutral NGOs control the state and the process of governance, by trying to make it transparent to citizens. One form of this is to uncover corruption at various levels of government by involving voters into this process. The other side of governmental transparency is the transparency of state institutions: information of public interest should be easily accessible, and decisions of state or local authorities and related lobbying operate in a clearly regulated environment and in a transparent manner.
The freedom and access of information is essential not just for citizens in making political choices, but also for journalists who strive to control political, social and economic powerholders and investigate important social issues. Transparency is also an important principle in the economy, where business organizations have recognized that credibility, trust and social responsibility are increasingly important for consumers’ choices.
For journalism and the media, transparency has become an essential factor. After much discussion in the profession about the traditional value of objectivity, the principle of transparency has become one of the most important, but not exclusive requirements of ethical journalism. The credibility of the press can be ensured by factors such as the presentation of sources, responsibility in handling information and collaboration with the audience. At the same time, transparency can often conflict with other norms of journalism, as, for example, the protection of sources is part of the journalistic responsibility, which is just the opposite of a fully transparent operation of the press. In such cases, journalists must weigh between different values, however source protection should always be a priority.
