Although journalism has always been in continuous transition and change, in recent times it seems to be experiencing a special moment of transformation and uncertainty, similar to what has already been experienced with the emergence of the Web and the online media themselves. Together with constant updating, information abundance and innovation in formats, genres and consumer devices, audience participation today represents one of the main drivers of innovation, both professionally and academically. Technological transition helped to evolve towards this complex scenario, determined by the greater presence of the public in the communicative process, an intervention that even reaches the productive phase of the media.

These possibilities have forced the reconfiguration of the attitude of the media, their role of mediation and their relationship with sources, in view of the need to "listen" in a context in which citizens take the floor and make their voices heard. In this sense, journalists have seen adapt their tasks and abilities, focusing these to the information work also in social media, in addition to working with forms of expression characterized by greater freedom and creativity.

In the line of reflection promoted in previous editions, the International Conference on Online Journalism aims to approach these realities based on multiple expert visions, charged with analyzing, from complementary angles, the nature, quality and usefulness of citizen participation to strengthen the democratic value of mediated information.