Working to strengthen trust with readers

The Guardian and the Observer are unique in the British press in having readers’ editors – journalists who listen to the complaints and concerns of the audience and act on their behalf, correcting errors and writing columns on the papers’ journalism.

The Guardian was the first to set up the post in 1997 followed four years later by the Observer, although the role on the Sunday paper is combined with other duties. The terms of reference for the Guardian post include “to collect, consider, investigate, respond to, and where appropriate come to a conclusion about readers’ comments, concerns, and complaints in…

Brisbane will be new public editor at New York Times

The New York Times today named its next public editor, Arthur S. Brisbane, a journalist and news executive with 34 years experience, including as publisher and editor of The Kansas City Star and as reporter and editor at The Washington Post.

Brisbane is the fourth public editor appointed by The Times.

Read the announcement at nytimes.com

Why can’t journalists handle public criticism?

Scott Rosenberg, writing for MedisShift’s Idea Lab: “I would argue that the difficulty American journalists have with hearing or responding to criticism lies in the profession’s pathological heritage of self-abnegation. We say, “To err is human,” right? But journalists too often work inside an institutional culture which says to them, “Be inhuman.” Do not have opinions — and if you do, for God’s sake don’t share them. Do not attend protests or take stands on issues. Do not vote; or, if you do, don’t tell anyone whom you voted for.”

Read Rosenberg’s entire comment

Job was like “a shock absorber”

Media Matters’ Joe Strupp interviews departing New York Times Ombudsman Clark Hoyt at the end of his three-year run in the post. He says the experience has been positive, although sometimes making him feel like “a shock absorber.”

“I was expecting it to be sort of a shock absorber job between the newsroom and individual…s who were commenting about things – that is the way it has turned out to be,” Hoyt said.

Read Strupp’s entire interview

Journalism ethics is topic on China Radio International

China Radio International’s “Beyond Beijing” program features ONO executive director Jeffrey A. Dvorkin in a two-hour audio discussion of journalism ethics.

Listen to the two-hour Webcast here.

The scientific twist of real news

The Cleveland Plain Dealer tried to look ahead rather than behind in its coverage of this year’s 40th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State. The effort led to a story that broke new ground on a key element of a historic event, something long debated but never resolved.

A photo album of the ONO Conference in Oxford is posted

Thanks to Thom Meens, photos of the ONO conference in Oxford are available on ONO’s Facebook fan page. Members are welcome to add their own photos, write captions and tag photos.

View the album here.

Defining a news ombudsman in a digital world

As news organisations become increasingly connected to their audiences, and those audiences equally become increasingly networked, the capacity for the news organisation to be held accountable by their audiences can only intensify. As we know, news organisations hold themselves accountable to their audiences through the application of a commonly held set of journalistic principles.

It is the task of news ombudsmen to assess whether their particular organisations have met those principles. The precise scope of the news ombudsman’s role reflects the legal and regulatory environment in which particular news organisations operate.

If we look at the present membership of the ONO, we…

Watching the watchdogs

Clark Hoyt ’64, who won a Pulitzer Prize in the 1970s and was for many years Washington bureau chief for the Knight Ridder chain, now finds himself on the front lines of journalism ethics, assessing the work of writers, editors and photographers at The New York Times, writes David McKay Wilson of Columbia College Today.

“It’s a strange job,” says Hoyt, 67, one day in January during an interview in his office at the Times headquarters in midtown Manhattan. “You are called upon to pass judgment in a very public way. It’s not an easy job. But I find it fascinating. I’m…

Hate speech internalized in Turkey, says ombudsman

Hate speech, sometimes referred to as hate propaganda or extreme speech, is widespread in the Turkish media — especially when the issues are minority rights, armed conflict and the European Union accession process, a recent study dissecting hate speech in the media has found.

“The provocative, racist and discriminatory language used in the news, and in particular in headlines and spots, become tools used in fuelling the enmity and polarization in society, while also affirming the stereotypes,” stated the study, titled “Hate speech and hate crimes: Wounding words and acts” and released by the Hrant Dink International Foundation, which organized a…