Visit to Taiwan
June 15-19, 2009
The Role of the Ombudsman
There is no official description of the role of
the ombudsman to which all news
organizations adhere. It takes slightly different
forms in different places. What follows are the
best practices for this role that are most
broadly agreed upon.
The Ombudsman (or woman) should:

Be a person who is broadly respected within his or her field of professional
endeavor, has a reputation for fairness, is non-partisan, understands the
role of the press in a democracy and the interest of the public.

Provide the knowledgeable point of contact within a news organization
where readers or viewers can ask questions about the news organization's
journalism, seek explanations, voice complaints, demand answers, and
contribute other comments and observations about journalistic content and
procedures.

Approach the job only as a reader, viewer and consumer of news. The
ombudsman should not play any internal, pre-publication role within the
news organization and should not see or watch any story or broadcast until
it appears in print or on the air.

Serve as the representative of the readers in sorting out and presenting
their challenges to the news organization and in seeking responses from
editors, reporters and producers.

Serve as a watchdog for the public on matters of corrections, accuracy,
journalistic fairness and balance.

Look into these complaints and provide an INDEPENDENT assessment of
these issues based upon the initial reader or viewer complaint, the response
of the news organization, and his or her own investigation and conclusion
about the matter. The key here is independence. The ombudsman must be
assured of complete independence to make and publish his or her
conclusions without interference by management of the news organization.
The ombudsman must also defend the news organization when it is being
unfairly or inaccurately faulted, criticized or attacked.

Hold the news organization accountable to its own stated journalistic
standards, ethics and values, and, in fact, to all broadly accepted journalistic
standards.

Publish a column regularly with your findings, and also publish a fair
sampling of comments from readers or viewers about these issues. Make
sure that the column is presented in a prominent way so that the public
knows it is there, and where to find it.

Explain the role of the press and the news-gathering process to readers and
viewers whenever necessary to make something understandable to the
public.

Be free to write about questionable journalistic practices, based on your
own experience and judgment, even if readers or viewers do not raise the
issue.

Ideally, be a contract employee for a set period of years, not a member of
the staff. The contract can be renewable upon mutual agreement for some
additional time, but not a permanent assignment for any individual. To be
effective, the ombudsman must be critical, when justified, of the news
organization. It is best to have a contract where there is no benefit to being
nice. This means a contracted payment with no bonuses, no promotions,
and no joining of the staff when the contract is completed.
Ten Principles of Journalism*





1. Journalism's first obligation is to the truth
2. Its first loyalty is to citizens
3. Its essence is a discipline of verification
4. Its practitioners must maintain an
independence from those they cover
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of
power
* “The Elements of Journalism” by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
6. It must provide a forum for public
criticism and compromise
 7. It must strive to make the significant
interesting and relevant
 8. It must keep the news comprehensive
and proportional
 9. Its practitioners must be allowed to
exercise their personal conscience
 10. Citizens, too, have rights and
responsibilities when it comes to the news

Audiences Turn to Cable and Web
Percentage Change in Audience, 2007 to 2008, Across Media
Change in Ad Spending by Medium*
2007 to 2008
* Charts from “The State of the News Media 2009” by PEJ