Abstract
This chapter explains the role and function of the ombudsman as it is practiced in a variety of media and countries. It will provide a history of the position and its role in promoting journalistic accountability and building public trust. Based on the experience of working practitioners, it will explore the dual functions of representative of news consumers and the upholder of journalistic standards and ethics in news organizations. It will look at how the role has changed in the context of the world of social media and Twitter campaigns and how it might evolve to be more effective in this context. It will argue in a time when public trust in news media is so eroded, the function of a news ombudsman is an important and critical way to gain back that trust and reinforce the highest standards of journalism.
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Notes
- 1.
The Organization of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors website, https://www.newsombudsmen.org/
- 2.
Van Groesen, “The News Ombudsman.”
- 3.
Online Etymology Dictionary.
- 4.
Baydar, “The Role of the News Ombudsman,” 68.
- 5.
Evers, “The News Ombudsman: Lightning Rod or Watchdog?” 228.
- 6.
Nagler, interview with author.
- 7.
Nagler, CBC Ombudsman website, https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/ombudsman
- 8.
Harashima, “The Grumpy Scold in the House.”
- 9.
Baydar, “The Role of the News Ombudsman,” 91.
- 10.
Tammerk, correspondence with author.
- 11.
Harashima, newspaper article: “What is the public editor doing?”
- 12.
Evers, “The News Ombudsman: Lightning Rod or Watchdog?” 229.
- 13.
Tammerk, correspondence with author.
- 14.
Claassen, correspondence with author.
- 15.
Nemeth, “New Ombudsmen in North America,” 4.
- 16.
Hilligoss, “The Diminishing Role of the Ombudsman in American Journalism,” 11.
- 17.
Sunderland, interview with author.
- 18.
Farhi, Washington Post article, March 1, 2013.
- 19.
Myers, “Creating an Effective Ombudsman,” 251.
- 20.
Nagler, interview with author.
- 21.
Kleis Nielsen, “Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2019,” 4–5.
- 22.
Fletcher, “Misinformation and Disinformation Unpacked,” 40–44.
Ibid., 40.
- 23.
Carmichael, Inverse “Does Facebook owe its users a public editor ?” https://eproofing.springer.com/books_v3/index.php?token=XMMVX7ULyJ7RNwNuzA2ANlyxrXsYQk9JlgZ1QPx232pDB5e5_VtPoKVQzNEX-EYJ
- 24.
Bell, speech delivered March, 2016, Cambridge University, available at Tow Center website, https://towcenter.columbia.edu/
- 25.
Bell, Speech delivered March, 2016 Cambridge University, Tow Center website.
- 26.
English, Correspondence with author.
- 27.
Nemeth, “News Ombudsman in North America,” 5.
- 28.
Mitchell et al. “Many Americans Say Made-Up News Is a Critical Problem That Needs To Be Fixed.” Pew Research Center.
- 29.
Young, “Americans and the News Media,” 1–3.
- 30.
Eil, “5 Ways Journalists Can Regain Trust from Readers.”
- 31.
Sunderland, Interview with author.
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Myers, 248.
- 34.
Ibid, 251.
- 35.
Kenney & Ozkan, “Ethics Examiner,” 40.
- 36.
Ibid. 39.
- 37.
Evers et al., “Watchdog or Decoy?”
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Enkin, E. (2021). The Role and Purpose of Ombudsmen in a Global Media World. In: Ward, S.J.A. (eds) Handbook of Global Media Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32103-5_7
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