Transparency as a Legi-Sign in the “Semiosis of News”: A Theoretical-Methodological Proposal to Address Journalism’s Credibility Crisis

Abstract

This article advances a theoretical-methodological framework to address journalism’s credibility crisis by conceptualizing transparency as a legi-sign within the “semiosis of news”. It argues for transparency as a deontological principle of the field and demonstrates its operationalization through the Credibilidade Project and Projor’s Public Commitment Indicators Program. The methodology combines Peircean semiotics with Weber’s notion of the “ideal type,” resulting in 11 transparency indicators. Findings suggest that transparency can function as a “guide to meaning” in the “qualified mediation” journalism provides between events and society. The article contends that by making its methods explicit, transparency has the potential to reestablish journalism’s communication contract with the public in the context of disinformation and denialism pervasive in the digital environment.