Self-control and dialogue in midst of controversy — lessons from Denmark

Good afternoon everyone.  Thank you so much for this opportunity to address the issue of public service broadcasting and ombudsmanship!

As we all know, news ombudsmen and readers editors are used at some of the best newspapers in the world. Washington Post was one of the innovators. Folha de Sao Paolo, Le Monde, The New York Times, The Guardian and many others have followed the example during the last decades.

This kind of ombudsmanship builds on a strong tradition. Every newspaper has its own way of doing it, but the basics are the same. In other words: Here you have a well…

Journalism and patriotism

Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, delivered this address at the annual meeting of the Organization of News Ombudsmen on April 30, 2002, at Salt Lake City, Utah.

A lot of very important things came into focus on Sept. 11 last year. Before 9-11 or after 9-11 has become one of those universal markers, a way to date things without explanation, without elaboration.

But for the future of journalism in the public interest, one of the things that occurred on 9-11 was that — for millions of Americans — timely, accurate and abundant information suddenly became important again.

Broadcast and…

Fairness as a virtue: Is fairness becoming more difficult?

By Bob Giles
Nieman Foundation

I begin with a word of thanks for enabling the Nieman Foundation to be the host of your meeting this week. I am impressed with the serious purpose you bring to your discussions. Listening to your sessions and meeting you has been a valuable learning experience for me.

In sharing some thoughts this morning on fairness, a good starting point is to acknowledge that newspapers that employ ombudsmen are making a clear statement of an intent to be fair. And fairness is one of the many elements that helps build public trust in the newspaper.

I had the privilege…

A Full-Employment Act for Ombudsmen!

Is it too late to reanimate the ghosts of Pulitzer, Hearst, Bennett and Kane
to save the contemporary newspaper from yuppie self-infatuation
and terminal boredom?

By Van Gordon Sauter
Former president of CBS News

A well-intentioned colleague suggested I discuss the changes that will occur in the communications business over the next 20 years — by 2018. An engaging concept, until I thought back to what I might have prophesied in 1978 about changes in the industry by 1998. That was sobering.

Who in 1978, for instance, would have predicted that a rambunctious, hokey, idiot savant from Georgia…who inherited a bunch of billboards in snake- infested…

Excerpts from welcoming remarks at the 1998 ONO conference

By Karin Winner
Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune

“In these post-O.J. Simpson days, as we chronicle the developments of one ‘gate’ after another, the readers’ representative is that vital link between us and our constituents. You provide the proper measure of constructive criticism and consciousness-raising, but also diligently defend our First Amendment rights.”

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“These are times when that freedom is under constant attack, often unfortunately because we’ve abused it.”

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“All of you as mouthpieces for credibility, arbiters of fairness and good taste, and judges of what’s right and wrong, play a huge role in convincing readers that newspapers are an essential ingredient in a…

Why Newspapers Need Ombudsmen to Ensure their Credibility and Accountability in a Multi-Media, Multi-Ethnic Society

By Chuck Stone
Walter Spearman Professor
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

When St. Louis Post-Dispatch editor Cole Campbell offered me the position of ombudsman with specific responsibility to monitor an upcoming racially polarized mayor’s race, two thoughts occurred to me: One, I had a high threshold of ignorance about the responsibilities of ombudsmen; and, two, I was amazed at the alacrity with which my even higher threshold of hubris impelled me to accept.

After my mercifully brief baptism of only five months on the Post-Dispatch assignment, I came away a devout believer in the imperative for…