Diálogo entre jornalistas e leitores: a participação do público através do ombudsman de imprensa e do conselho do leitor de Zero Hora

Abstract

The reader’s participation on newsmaking is the focus of this study. There are analysed, comparatively, two distinct devices that promote participation. On one hand, the Ombudsman, analysed since bibliographic references and direct contact to the Portuguese version of ombusdmanship in Portugal, the “provedor do leitor.” On the other hand, the “readers’ council,” exemplified by the daily newspaper Zero Hora, from Porto Alegre (RS/BR), analysed using interviews and participant observation. The theoretical framework includes habermasian reflexions about public and private spheres and Journalism Theory. The results point to the lack of identity guidelines that could account for the readers’autonomy.