Taking public criticism on the chin…

From the recent Philadelphia meeting of the world’s news ombudsmen, I can report that our numbers have remained flat in recent years. My colleagues in the Organization of News Ombudsmen found good and bad news in that statistic for newspapers and the readers who rely on them.

Each ONO member is designated by his or her newspaper’s management to help improve the paper’s accuracy and – a much more challenging concept – fairness, by airing readers’ concerns in columns such as Listening Post.

“You’re really there to talk to the readers,” said Larry Nighswander, …

Who makes Folha’s opinions?…

The series of editorials on the front pages of Folha, which began on April 21 with the memorable “The other side of the coin,” called attention to one of the least transparent parts of the newspaper: the opinion section. In a year and a half as ombudsman, I have noticed that readers have no idea how pages 2 and 3 in the first section, published in this grouping (“Opinion”), are planned and written.

Here are the five basic elements of these pages:

• Editorials — Unsigned pieces which appear in the two columns on

…

Headline wrong to suggest killer was with Boy Scouts…

Four readers have telephoned me, one has written me a short letter and one has written a two-page letter to Joan Fraser, the editor of The Gazette, to complain about our main headline on the front page on March 14. It was the day we reported the murders of 16 schoolchildren and their teacher in Scotland.

The biggest part of the heading said, “Slaughter in Scotland.” The subsidiary headline — known as the deck — said, “Disgraced Boy Scout leader kills 16 kids, teacher.”

Thomas Hamilton, who shot himself to death after killing the children …

Public vs. private pain…

“When does our service as practitioners of the ‘news event’ give way to our obligations as emotional, involved human beings?” With those words, in a recent Boston Globe story on coverage of the massacre in Dunblane, Scotland, one journalist defined a major fault line between the public and the media.

Several recent Page 1 Globe photos raised the same question. When — in the name of privacy and decency — do you turn the cameras off? The March 15 photo of Travis Roy sobbing at his press conference triggered hundreds of calls from readers accusing …

‘Thoughtless’ headline creates irony…

“U.S. spy report: Beware of Israel” was the Page One headline above an article reprinted from The Washington Post. Complaints were inevitable — and justified.

“In my youth I often heard the expression, `Figures don’t lie, but liars figure,’ ” said Lucille J. Austin of Royal Palm Beach. “The bold headline Jan. 30 reminded me of it. (The article) proceeded to tell how the warning about spies was canceled regarding Israel. My conclusion to this is that your paper approves of lying first and explaining later.”

Harold Zalesch of West Palm Beach questioned, “Why …

Story, picture and caption about `canned hunts’ draw protest…

For Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano, his powerful Feb. 2 Page One report on “canned hunts” — in which helpless, fenced-in trophy animals are killed — was the culmination of a year’s work.

Lubrano, who joined The Inquirer staff last October, started work on the story while he was still with New York Newsday, but it took him a year to find a hunting preserve that was willing to let him witness a shoot.

His account told of hunters killing — often at point-blank range — deer, sheep, goats, boar, antelope, even exotic animals such …

Story, picture and caption about `canned hunts’ draw protest…

For Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano, his powerful Feb. 2 Page One report on “canned hunts” — in which helpless, fenced-in trophy animals are killed — was the culmination of a year’s work.

Lubrano, who joined The Inquirer staff last October, started work on the story while he was still with New York Newsday, but it took him a year to find a hunting preserve that was willing to let him witness a shoot.

His account told of hunters killing — often at point-blank range — deer, sheep, goats, boar, antelope, even exotic animals such …

Ombudsmen would like to see changes in this business…

A number of members of the Organization of News Ombudsmen recently shared thoughts about some of the things we would like to see changed in our business.

I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my colleagues’ musings. I will provide my own reaction to their comments.

Jim Stott of The Calgary Herald in Canada: “I’d like to see editors and reporters switch roles with readers for one week and read the paper critically and try to bring their concerns (as readers) to editors and reporters. It seems to me both …

Veteran journalist bids adieu after 10 years as ombudsman…

This is one of the toughest pieces of writing I’ve had to tackle in a career which has touched many journalistic bases and spans more than 30 years.

I am leaving the Herald as of now and the ombudsman position is being eliminated. Other channels of communication will be established for readers.

The ombudsman exists as the readers’ representative on the inside. As such, the ombudsman is the ham in the sandwich, with readers on one side and staff on the other.

Over the past decade in this seat, I’ve fielded more than 30,000 calls …

The search for teen role models…

Looking for role models in The Boston Globe can be frustrating.

For scores of angry readers, the Globe’s Jan. 15 full-page ad memorializing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with the words — “He violated dozens of state laws. He was sent to jail fourteen times. He was pursued by the FBI. A more perfect role model is hard to find” — transmitted a negative message.

For a group of Boston teen-agers whose knowledge of King comes only from history books — and who live on mean streets in tough times — the search for role …