Citizens and governance: media scrutiny in the digital era

Governance and “soft” regulation have been presented as concepts that embed a more broad consideration of the agents that regulate and frame media activity. This new paradigm considers several perspectives of analysis, from the state to organizations of civil society, in layers of jurisdiction that go from the global to the national or even local level. Governing mechanisms, in times of blurred boundaries between and within public and private spheres, do not only rest on recourse to the authority of the state, or of those by him mandated (Stoker, 1998). The regular  functioning of institutions, media included, is now depending on several actors. In this new environment for regulation, the role of citizens must be considered in the discussion and setting of orientations and normative of functions for the media.