Amplifying Citizens’ Voices in the Face of Media Globalization

Abstract

Economic crises have mainly affected the more vulnerable social sectors and created losses of freedom and inequality. Currently, most media are controlled by a relatively small group of companies around the world. In the face of this situation, networked society has accelerated the development of alternative communication models, which act as loudspeakers for citizens" voices. The aim of this study is to describe the main features of the new forms of citizen expression, communication and cooperation, such as social networks, review sites, citizen journalism and the collaborative economy. It is concluded that in the face of these new challenges it is essential to continue to develop ethical principles of self-regulation to ensure the accuracy and thoroughness of new forms of communication on the Net.