Memorials scheduled for former Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell

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Sourcing of Article Awkward for Paper

Facing criticism for publishing the work of a start-up news organization, The Washington Post reported Tuesday that it should have disclosed more about the group’s financier and his connections, and the paper’s ombudsman said he was looking into the relationship.

The start-up, The Fiscal Times, covers economic issues, with a particular focus on the federal budget, the growing deficit and efforts to rein in health care and Social Security spending. Its financing was provided by Peter G. Peterson, the billionaire investment banker who advocates deficit reduction and restrictions on entitlement programs.

On Dec. 31, The Post published the first news article …

Station ombudsman builds viewer trust

Giacobbe is the ombudsman at the Media General station, charged with making sure that WJAR’s reporting follows the rules of fairness, accuracy and balance. He may be the only station ombudsman in America, but at a time when local TV is increasingly looking to build viewer trust, some believe the role has never been more essential. “The ombudsman …

A troubled meeting of the world’s editors

Stephen Pritchard’s latest for Guardian discusses the state of newspaper and comes up with some surprising statistics.

Here’s an excerpt:

It’s fashionable to consider newspapers to be sickly dinosaurs threatened with extinction by the hurtling asteroid of the digital revolution, but figures released last week show that it’s far too early to start writing print’s obituary. Globally, 1.9 billion newspapers are sold every day. They reach 34% of the world’s population. In contrast, the internet reaches 24%.

Read more at the Guardian.

Le Monde interviews ONO President Stephen Pritchard

ONO President Stephen Pritchard was interviewed by Le Monde during his visit to the World Editors Conference in Hyderabad, India. (Translation to English to follow).

L’association internationale des médiateurs de presse pourrait s’ouvrir aux blogueurs

03.12.09 | 18h19 • Mis à jour le 03.12.09 | 18h55

Hyderabad, congrès mondial de la presse, envoyé spécial

Stephen Pritchard est président de la principale association internationale de médiateurs de presse Organisation of News Ombudsmen et médiateur à l’hebdomadaire The Observer, au Royaume-Uni.

A quand remonte la création de la fonction de médiateur dans les journaux ?

Dans les années 1960 aux Etats-Unis. Ensuite, cela s’est rapidement développé en Amérique du Nord. L’essor de la fonction dans le reste du monde remonte à trente ans, dans les années 1980. Je pense que Le Monde a été l’un des premiers quotidiens européens à avoir nommé un médiateur.