Ombudsmen have the best job, and the worst…

Ever wonder what news ombudsmen talk about when they get together?

Ever wonder what a news ombudsman does?

Unless you’ve been reading one of the few newspapers that has one, ombudsman is likely to sound like a foreign word– which it is; Scandinavian in origin, meaning “intermediary” in English.

News ombudsmen receive comments and complaints, in the form of telephone calls and letters from readers, about issues of fairness, accuracy and balance in newspaper articles. We obtain explanations from editors and staff and respond to readers, generally in columns like this one, at 48 newspapers in the United…