Front Cover -- Preliminary Pages -- Contents -- Introduction: overview of a European study -- Media accountability in Europe: a fragmented picture -- 1. Media accountability is entering into the political agenda -- 2. Europe: a highly fragmented picture -- 2.1. Most-advanced countries -- 2.2. Less-advanced countries -- 2.3. The "under construction" countries -- 3. Concluding remarks -- UK broadcasting policy: the "long wave" shift in conceptions of accountability -- Introduction -- 1. Accountability: exit, voice and loyalty -- 2. Accountability: proposals for change at the BBC -- 3. UK broadcasting policy: the "long wave" shift in the dominant framework -- 4. Conceptions of the citizen and the consumer in broadcasting policy -- 4.1. Citizens' "legitimate expectations" -- 4.2. Social capital and new thoughts on citizenship -- 4.3. Potter, consumer theory and evaluation of the accountability of UK broadcasters -- 5. The 2003 Communications Act: a new consumer and citizen consciousness -- 6.Conclusion -- The protection of viewer rights in Europe -- Introduction -- 1. Basic general principles -- 1.1. Media law -- 1.2. Media authorities -- 2. Main instruments and obligations -- 2.1. Legal instruments for the viewers -- 2.2. Legal obligations for the broadcasters -- 3. Three types of countries -- 3.1. Homogeneous countries -- 3.2. Inhomogeneous countries -- 3.3. Countries in progress -- 4. Conclusion -- Media users' participation in Europe from a civil society perspective -- Introduction -- 1. Viewers - not just consumers -- 2. Viewers - civil society actors? -- 3. Options provided for viewer participation in Europe -- 3.1. Representation in controlling bodies -- 3.2. Communication platforms -- 3.3. Complaints procedures -- 3.4. Audience research -- 4. Viewer associations -- 4.1. Main objectives -- 4.2. Types of activities -- 5. Conclusions.

5.1. Viewer participation across Europe -- 5.2. Viewer participation as civil society activity -- 5.3. Viewer participation on the European level -- Viewers' rights in the European Union: policies and instruments -- Introduction -- 1. Access to the institutions: instruments and procedures -- 1.1. European Parliament, Committee on Petitions -- 1.2. European Commission: complaints concerning failure to comply with community law -- 1.3. Actions brought to the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) -- 1.4. The European Ombudsman -- 1.5. European Court of Human Rights -- 1.6. Internal Market law problem-solving network (Solvit) -- 1.7. The European Consumer Centres and request for intervention to the European Extra-Judicial Network (EEJ-Net) -- 2. General principles on consumer protection -- 2.1. European Union -- 2.2. Council of Europe -- 3. Relevant EU policies and advisory bodies -- 3.1. EU Consumer Affairs policy -- 3.2. Audio-visual policy -- 4. Conclusions -- Abbreviations and Acronyms -- References -- About the authors -- Back Cover.