Using the media to hold accountants to account: some observations

Purpose ? The purpose of this paper is to broaden discussions about the role of the public sphere in broadening social choices, with particular focus on accountancy magazines and national press in particular. Design/methodology/approach ? In replying to the commentary appearing in this edition, the paper shifts the debate to a political economy of media. In action research traditions, it also shows how academic interventions can lead to unexpected outcomes that can enrich research, teaching and social choice debates. Findings ? Public debates can be galvanised through academic interventions. Practical implications ? The paper suggests possible strategies for fermenting public debates and engaging with the institutions of accountancy. Social implications ? Through engagement social choices can be broadened. Originality/value ? The paper is based on personal interventions and this offers first-hand account of some of the public interventions and how these led to new alliances and arrangements to problematise conventional views about accounting and accounting firms.