Abstract
Cumulative prospect theory, one of the major contributions to behavioral economics to explaining decision-making under uncertainty, is used to analyze two perspectives on punishment for professional misconduct, in one developing and one developed journalistic professional world. Using cumulative prospect theory, this article aims to explore why Romanian journalists show greater support for a liability model, compared to their Swiss counterparts, who favor an answerability model of accountability. To this end, several semi-structured interviews with experts in both countries were conducted. The discussions started from data gathered in a previous survey, called MediaAcT. The cumulative prospect theory of Kahneman and Tversky is based on a framing hypothesis, but has not been used before by media scholars. The approach proves to be fruitful, as it allows for a better understanding of journalists’ attitudes to accountability and responsibility.
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