Last Updated: November 09, 1999
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Listening to readers
Officially, the Organization of News Ombudsmen is a professional organization.
In reality, it’s a lifeline and a resource for journalists who deal with
readers, viewers or listeners on a daily basis.
Say you are the editor of the Daily Bugle and you decide the time is
right for your newspaper to have an ombudsman. No one else on the newspaper
has ever held the position. In fact, no one at your newspaper knows how
to pronounce ombudsman.
That’s where the ONO can be of most help. We can supply you with a sample
job description. We can show your representative how we do our jobs.
We can tell him or her how we’ve resolved problems, how we’ve handled ethical
dilemmas.
As ombudsmen, we are passionate about what we do and want others to
succeed.
We also know that most U.S. newspapers have room for only one ombudsman
on staff. That makes our organization even more important. Only another
ombudsman knows what it’s like to, on a daily basis, deal with readers
who are unhappy, who sometimes have good reason to be angry, who think
all newspapers are involved in a conspiracy, who think journalists are
biased, too opinionated and insensitive. Talking with other ombudsmen puts
things into perspective.
ONO keeps in touch with members through a newsletter. We also have an
annual conference in a member’s city. Recent meeting sites include Chicago,
San Diego and Barcelona. In 2000, we will meet May 21-24 in Montreal. The
agenda will include shop talk, speakers and panels. Conference topics have
included coverage of sex crimes, use of anonymous sources, invasion of
privacy, conflicts of interest, news councils, credibility and covering
minorities.
Also, some U.S. members participate in monthly conference calls to discuss
news practices and problems. We think of these in mini-conferences and
often find, for example, what concerns a reader in St. Paul, Minn.,
also will be on the minds of readers in Phoenix or Kansas City or Ann Arbor,
Mich. We also communicate by e-mail. Members sometimes send out queries
when they are writing columns to ask other ombudsmen about policies or
if their papers have faced similar situations or ethical dilemmas.
Our ultimate goal is good journalism.
Information about ONO is available on our Web site, http://www5. infi.net/ono.
The site contains the membership list, which includes ombudsmen for
newspapers and radio and television outlets.
ONO, founded in 1980 as an international organization, includes members
from the United States, Canada, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Israel,
Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Venezuela. Most members
are employed by newspapers.
For more information, contact Art Nauman, ONO executive secretary
at artnauman@ aol.com, 916/391-1314
or 6307 Surfside Way, Sacramento CA 95831.
Lubrano is the reader representative of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Contact her at 619/293-1525 or gina.lubrano@ uniontrib.com.
