Cover homicide victims sensitively

Kansas City Star Public Editor Derek Donovan says some of the most difficult conversations he has with readers come when he is contacted by family members or loved ones of the victims of violent crime.

Should ombudsmen criticize opinion?

Dealing with the question of whether ombuds should be involved in critiquing opinion journalism has long been a problem. That’s because journalism should be about allowing a range of opinions. But what if an opinion goes too far?

Yavuz Baydar from the newspaper Sabah in Istanbul posed this dilemma and got some answers from ONO members.

– Jeffrey Dvorkin
ONO Executive Director

Ombuds-

Here is another question for all of you.

We have a developing case of a columnist who has been accused of denigrating a physically handicapped MP (who lost her leg and arm in an accident), with political …

Kaplan, Joel

Ombudsman, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

401 Ninth St. NW

Washington, DC 20004

Email: jkkaplan@syr.edu

 …

Letters give readers a chance to become involved

There is little that warms the cockles of a journalist’s heart more than reader responses to the things we publish. They prove that you are reading, are moved by what you see, and are willing to spend time telling us what you think.

Press ethics: drawing the line

The ongoing phone-hacking scandal in the U.K. has brought the discussion about press ethics to the forefront once again.

Source’s criminal history: a deciding factor in coverage?

Should a person’s criminal history be a factor when deciding whether to interview him or her for a story unrelated to the crime?

The post-9/11 decline of media independence

Media growth in the 10 years since 9/11 has been explosive with the Internet, social networks, mobile devices and tablets, and the proliferation of news outlets on cable, online and via satellite.

“But once,” says Ed Wasserman, media columnist and Washington and Lee University professor, “the media were also institutions that recognized they had a role to play, not just a market to serve, and that role obliged them sometimes to defy the received wisdom, not cave to it. And that recognition is in steep decline.”

Now you see it, now you don’t

Ombudsman Arthur Brisbane hopes the New York Times adopts clear standards for how mistakes and changes are handled in the fast-paced digital environment.

Oops! How The Star deals with its mistakes

Newspapers used to have a standard response to outsiders’ criticisms: “We stand by our story.” But times have changed and in many places, acknowledging errors is becoming more common. However, says Nairobi Star Ombudsman Karen Rothmyer, the trend toward more corrections hasn’t yet come to Kenya.

The awareness of the BBC

The list of rules and standards that govern the journalistic work of the BBC represents several hours of reading. SInce 2005, David Jordan monitors compliance with these standards. Leading a team of 12 employees, Jordan is a member of the Management Committee of the BBC in addition to advising journalists, presenters and producers on a daily basis on issues of ethics and journalistic ethics. The former producer of current affairs attended this year’s annual ONO conference.

Read the article in English.

Read the article in French on the La Presse Web site.…