Towards a Genealogy of Media Audience Ombudsmen

Abstract

This article aims to reconstruct how the figure of media audience ombudsperson has been understood over time. Based on a literature review, two major moments are proposed: in the first one, they are characterized as one of the self-regulation mechanisms of the press (mainly European and American) and, in the second one, within the framework of a co-regulatory model of electronic mass media –radio and television– public and/or private (Latin American). Subsequently, some of the challenges they face are presented, derived from recent transformations in the media ecosystem’s configuration.