What do ombudsmen talk about when they get together?
They discuss issues common to all whether they work for print or in broadcast media.
Some examples:
- What are the dangers that may weaken journalism in time of war?
- How do journalists balance their journalistic obligations and their patriotic duties?
- How do we handle pressures by governments or lobby groups?
- What issues affect the credibility of the news organizations we work for?
- How can we raise the quality of criticisms that we receive?
- And how do we make our journalists less defensive to criticism?
In late April, more than 30 journalists from 11 countries in four continents came to Salt Lake City. We met to discuss how to help the listeners, readers and viewers understand the role of journalism when the issues in the media are more complicated than ever. We also talked about the role of the ombudsman and how to help our journalists understand the needs of the listeners, readers and viewers.
Questions About Credibility
One recurrent issue that transcends different media and journalistic cultures was credibility. How can we make sure that our listeners, readers and viewers trust that what we tell them is true?
Bill Kovach is a former reporter, editor and Washington bureau chief of the New York Times. He’s also been curator of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University and he is now head of the Committee for Concerned Journalists in Washington, D.C.
It was in that latter role that he came to speak to the Salt Lake City meeting.
Kovach reminded us that as ombudsmen and women, we need to constantly remind our news organizations about the obligations of the media in a civic society.
“After two decades during which Americans turned away from serious news and immersed themselves in a world of babbling voices marinated in advertising and entertainment, suddenly we rediscovered reliable, verified information. In a newly unpredictable and dangerous world, journalism in the public interest was again distinctive, inherently more valuable to help us cope with the unpredictability and understand the nature and sources of danger.
“In a world awash in unlimited forms of communication, what we all reached out for instinctively was information that has been verified, information that had been put into meaningful context.”
‘How Do I Know That?’
Kovach warned that after Sept. 11, and the danger appears to have receded, many people in government and in the public are “…anxious to curb our appetite for independent verified information.”
The most important question, says Kovach, for journalists to ask is: “How do I know that?… The only way — in practice — to level with people about what you know is to reveal as much as possible about sources and methods. How direct is their knowledge? What biases might they have? Are there conflicting accounts? What don’t we know?”
Other ombudsmen confirmed that the pressure is on news organizations, often from long-standing readers and listeners. It places news organizations in a new and uncomfortable position since many of us are unused to this level of intense scrutiny and harsh criticism.
Kovach and others reinforced the idea that if your sources are reliable and if you are transparent about the sources of your information, that goes a long way to assuring the critics.
But in covering the wars in Afghanistan or the Middle East, often journalistic organizations are being urged to become more partisan in their reporting — just at a time when evenhandedness is needed more than ever.
Corrections and Credibility
The ombudsmen and women were also told that a policy on corrections is more valuable than ever.
At the Copenhagen daily Politiken, the ombudsman is called a “reader’s editor.” He tells us that a survey of readers shows that 75 percent believe that a newspaper’s credibility and trustworthiness is increased by the prominence of corrections. Only 2 percent felt that it is undermined.
NPR has been better of late in improving its approach to corrections. While the link on the NPR Web page may still be difficult to find, it is there. Listeners can find it at the bottom of the home page. Or link directly to it at www.npr.org/corrections.
What To Call Them?
The Middle East continues to dominate listeners’ concerns.
On Morning Edition, Bob Edwards interviewed one of the “internationals” who became part of the group inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
NPR received cell phone numbers for the group, so interviews could take place.
But Edwards referred to the members of the group as “peace activists:”
Kristin Schurr is a peace activist from New York. She was among a group that stormed the Church of the Nativity last week taking much needed food inside.
Ms. Schurr, what’s the feeling among those inside the church waiting for this matter to be resolved?
That caused a number of protest e-mails including this one from Douglas Miller:
“The westerners who sneaked into the Church of the Nativity are there to support the Arab terrorists who invaded the church over five weeks ago and are holding many Christian clergy hostage at gun point. The westerners may be labelled “terrorist supporters” or “anti-Israel activists.” But how on earth does Mr. Edwards call them “peace activists?”
Mr. Miller raises a good point and it recalls Bill Kovach’s admonition: “How do we know?”
Details of the conference can be found a the Organization of News Ombudsmen’s Web site:
http://www.newsombudsmen.org”>www.newsombudsmen.org
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