THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN Watchdog or decoy? Huub Evers Harmen Groenhart Jan van Groesen part 1 ~ الوسيط LE MEDIATEUR

Preface

The Nether lands Media Ombuds man Foun da tion is dedi ca ted to the

self-regu la tion of jour na lism in Dutch-spea king regi ons. In collaboration

with the Fontys Univer sity of Applied Scien ces, Depart ment of Jour na lism

in Tilburg, it has conduc ted a study into the perfor mance of ombud smen in

the news media. This publi ca tion presents the results of this study.

This publi ca tion is inten ded to provide profes si o nal jour na lists with more

insight into the pheno me non of the news ombuds man as a self-regu la tion

instru ment. The news ombud smen them sel ves can mirror their perfor -

mance on the findings from the study, as laid down in this booklet.

The funds that made the study and this publi ca tion possi ble were provi ded

by the Nether lands Press Fund. For this we owe the Press Fund a great deal

of grati tude.

The Nether lands Media Ombuds man Foun da tion would like to express its

appre ci a tion to Fontys research ers Huub Evers and Harmen Groen hart for

their research work and for the efforts they have expen ded in analy sing

hundreds of columns writ ten by news ombud smen. In addi tion, we would

like to thank our fellow board member Kees Haak, who helped us to make

this study feasible.

Jan van Groe sen

Chair, Nether lands Media Ombuds man Foun da tion

The study

The expe rien ces gained thus far with regard to the perfor mance of ombud -

smen in news media have demon stra ted that the pheno me non of news

ombuds man can be an instru ment in the self-regu la tion of jour na lism. Our

frame of refe rence for this study is the ideal image of a news ombuds man,

viz. a fully inde pen dent ombuds man who deals with complaints from news

consu mers in an effi cient and adequate manner, who publi cly and criti cally

asses ses the quality and presen ta tion of jour na lis tic products gene ra ted by

the medium for which he works, and who places his asses sment in the light

of rele vant issues related to journalistic ethics.

In this study we aim to answer several ques ti ons: what types of ombuds -

man can be disting uis hed, in the Nether lands and at the global level; what

are the simi la ri ties and diffe ren ces; what types of media employ news

ombud smen (daily newspa pers, broad cas ting compa nies, digi tal media);

and do news ombud smen actu ally contri bute to the quality of jour na lis tic

products.

In order to gain a picture of the role played by a news ombuds man we

have asked ombud smen across the globe to fill in a survey. In this survey we

presen ted the follo wing ques ti ons: what are the tasks and autho ri ties of a

news ombuds man; who took the initi a tive in appoin ting him; what is his

back ground; how inde pen dent is he; does he operate on the basis of his own

statute and, if so, what does this statute entail; to whom is he accoun ta ble;

does he have his own column (for exam ple, weekly) and does he write it in

accor dance with his own views or is it revie wed befo re hand by the

editor-in-chief or the management?

As news ombud smen are active in many coun tries, we would like to map

out the vari ous types of ombud smen in coun tries outside the Nether lands,

how they operate and what their expe rien ces are. To that end, we have

collec ted infor ma tion from the Orga ni za tion of News Ombud smen

(ONO), an inter na ti o nal orga ni sa tion compri sing ombud smen from all

over the world. Addi ti o nally, we have acqui red insights from the Euro pean

The study 1

Jour na lism Obser va tory (EJO) in Lugarno, which conduc ted a study into

the media ombuds man pheno me non a year and a half ago. Finally, we have

acquain ted oursel ves with other publications and documents.

To measure the effec ti ve ness of the news ombuds man, our study

encom pas sed three sub-studies into the acti vi ties of the ombuds man on De

Volks krant newspa per, the (former) readers' editor of the Rotter dams

Dagblad and the ombuds man of the NOS broad cas ting company. We

studied 200 and 175 columns respec ti vely, by the first two offi ci als. As the

NOS ombuds man took up office only recently, the research mate rial on this

offi cial compri sed only some 60 columns.

We have drawn up conclu si ons and recom men da ti ons on the perfor -

mance of ombud smen on the news media, in an attempt to contri bute to

the debate on the self-regu la tion of jour na lism by means of prac ti cal

instru ments. We will also discuss these conclu si ons/recom men da ti ons with

the target group of news ombud smen them sel ves, initi ally with the body of

ombud smen in the Nether lands and subse quently at the inter na ti o nal level,

within the context of the Orga ni za tion of News Ombudsmen (ONO).

This study will be roun ded off with an inter na ti o nal sympo sium, for

which experts from across the globe will be invi ted to give their views on the

pheno me non of news ombud smen and the opera tion of this instru ment in

media edito rial staffs.

2 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

News ombud smen at home and abroad

Jan van Groesen

The demand for press regu la tion is incre a sing in the western demo cra tic

coun tries, inclu ding the Nether lands. The jour na lism sector itself, howe -

ver, is still quite hesi tant towards any form of regu la tion, as this could

jeopar dise the preci ous good of press free dom. Never the less, the news

media will have to take a more seri ous look at self-regu la tion. The incre a -

sing criti cism level led against the press by Dutch society and by govern -

ment advi sory bodies such as the Coun cil for Public Admi ni stra tion (Raad

voor het Open baar Bestuur, ROB, 2003), the Coun cil for Social Deve lop -

ment (Raad voor Maat schap pe lijke Ontwik ke ling, RMO, 2003) and the

Scien ti fic Coun cil for Govern ment Policy (Weten schap pe lijke Raad voor

het Rege rings be leid, WRR, 2005), demon stra tes that faith in the media has

plum me ted, which in itself entails a risk for both the provi sion of inde pen -

dent infor ma tion to the citizen and the democratic calibre of society.

It is gene rally recog ni sed that the revo lu tion that has gover ned the world

of the media since the intro duc tion of new and digi tal media has under mi -

ned the usual fora of jour na lis tic disci pline and self-disci pline. If disci pline

does not pick up, there is a risk that the govern ment will be incli ned to start

impo sing regu la ti ons on the media sector.

That is why it is urgently impor tant for the news media to decide to take

more joint action in the matter. Self-regu la tion by the press is the

pre-eminent means to keep the govern ment at bay and win back socie ty's

respect.

In the Nether lands, the jour na lism sector has had a number of

self-regu la tion instru ments in place for deca des, aimed at moni to ring the

reli a bi lity and quality of the jour na lis tic product. A gene ral instru ment is

the Nether lands Press Coun cil (Raad voor de Jour na lis tiek, RvdJ), which

has been active in the Dutch press sector since 1960. Other instru ments

include the codes of conduct for jour na lists, such as the Bordeaux Code and

the Fellows hip Code (Genoot schaps code). In addi tion, many indi vi dual

media have set up self-regu la tion instru ments to moni tor the quality of

News ombud smen at home and abroad 3

their products. A number of media have intro du ced their own Style Books

in which they have laid down rules. These rules may pertain to the obli ga -

tion to publish recti fi ca ti ons and to devote equal atten tion to both sides of

an issue. Other rules stipu late that suici des will not be publis hed, unless the

inte rest of society is at stake and that suspects will only be refer red to by

their initi als, in order to safe gu ard their privacy.

Increasing criticism

These instru ments have failed to prevent the news media having been under

incre a sing attack since the 1990s. The Nether lands Press Coun cil focu ses

prima rily on the tradi ti o nal media and is faced with a credi bi lity issue, as it is

not recog ni sed by several major news orga ni sa ti ons. The younger gene ra ti -

ons of jour na lists are gene rally unaware of the codes of conduct for jour na -

lism and compli ance with the codes is usually lost amidst the pres sure of

every day life. The fierce compe ti tion that ensued from the intro duc tion of

new and digi tal media has put edito rial staffs under consi de ra ble addi ti o nal

time pres sure to publish quic kly, at the expense of the neces sary depth and

discus sion of the diffe rent aspects of an issue.

The advent of the Inter net and rela ted digi tal media has also led to a

diffe rent appro ach to the concept of "infor ma tion". The intro duc tion of

web sites and web logs has gene ra ted a set of instru ments that caused the

perso nal inter pre ta tion of infor ma tion to boom. The disse mi na tion of

neutral infor ma tion, a preten sion harbou red by the tradi ti o nal media, is

appa rently no longer consi de red attrac tive and exci ting by the citi zens of

today. Putting forward perso nal views and value judge ments has gradu ally

been uplif ted to the highest level, with overly strong lang u age beco ming

part of the stand ard format. This bene fits web sites such as the Dutch

tabloid web log GeenStijl. This atti tude is thre a te ning to creep into the

tradi ti o nal media as well, in order for them to be able to compete. This

explains a large part of the increasing criticism.

Neit her should we be surpri sed that major self-regu la tion instru ments

fail to have a suffi ciently disci pli ning effect. The Bordeaux Code dates from

1954 and there fore was not formu la ted in light of the revo lu ti o nary deve -

lop ments that have taken place in jour na lism over the past two deca des. The

Code is no longer geared to the regu la tory needs of the new and digi tal

media ensuing from those deve lop ments. In 2007, the Press Coun cil publis -

4 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

hed a Guide line, inten ded as a compi la tion of moral stand ards, but this

Guide line mainly compri ses Coun cil juris pru dence from the past and is not

orien ted towards future new needs regar ding self-regu la tion. In April 2008,

the Society of Editors-in-Chief publis hed a new code of conduct for jour -

na lists. Compa red to the 1995 version, this code was modi fied to a signi fi -

cant degree with a view to the advent of the Inter net and the sharp incre ase

in public participation facilitated by the Internet.

An all-embra cing appro ach to jour na lis tic self-regu la tion mecha nisms,

howe ver, is still lacking. For that reason, the Nether lands Media Ombuds -

man Foun da tion initi a ted a broad-based study into exis ting and desi ra ble

new codes of conduct, inclu ding a code for jour na lis tic products on the

Inter net. This study into jour na lis tic codes was conduc ted by the Univer sity

of Amster dam. An addi ti o nal study was conduc ted into news ombud smen,

the results of which are laid down in this report.

The news ombudsman

The expe rien ces gained over the past deca des have proven that having the

indi vi dual news media served by their own ombud smen is one of the better

self-regu la tion instru ments in the domain of jour na lism.

Many good reasons argue in favour of having one's own ombuds man.

The web site of the Orga ni za tion of News Ombud smen (ONO) states the

follo wing:

¨ News om bud smen are me di a tors be tween the con su mers (re a -

ders, lis te ners, vie wers) and the edi to ri al staff of their me di um.

They act in the best in te rests of both free dom of the press and

consumers.

¨ Ombud smen are re li a ble con tacts for com ments and com plaints

from con su mers. They are open to cri ti cism from the pu blic and

thus bring about a dialogue.

¨ Ombud smen rein for ce the me di a's cre di bi li ty by pu blis hing the

con tent of, the, re sults of and the mo ti va ti on for their ac ti vi ties in

their own columns.

¨ Ombud smen are only bound by sta tu to ry ru les and et hi cal stand -

ards of jour na lism. They ope ra te on the ba sis of full in de pen den ce.

¨ Ombud smen en cou ra ge in ter nal de ba te wit hin the me dia on jour -

News ombud smen at home and abroad 5

na lis tic re sults and mis ta kes. Thus, they con sti tu te a fac tor in qua -

li ty con trol and improvement.

History

As far as we can ascert ain, the idea that news media should take complaints

from readers seri ously dates back to the begin ning of the 20th century. In

1913, the New York World desig na ted one of their mana gers to record

complaints from dissa tis fied readers and forward them to the jour na lis tic

staff. The New York World newspa per, which was publis hed in New York

between 1860 and 1931, played a signi fi cant role in the history of Ameri can

daily newspa pers. In the 1920s, more Ameri can media follo wed suit. The

first newspa per to deal with such complaints in a somew hat profes si o nal

manner was the Asahi Shim bun in Tokyo, which esta blis hed a commit tee

to inves ti gate complaints and pass them on to the editors-in-chief. These

acti vi ties could be regar ded as the first steps towards self-regu la tion of the

media, which would even tu ally deve lop into the official position of

ombudsman.

Since the first news ombuds man, John Herchen roe der, was appoin ted

in 1967 in Louis ville, Kentucky, the ombuds man concept gradu ally gained

ground in the world of the inter na ti o nal news media, although as yet it is far

from wides pread at the global level. The majo rity of the ombud smen, some

30 alto ge ther, are active in the United States of America. This accounts for

less than one per cent of the total number of news media in the US, which

indi ca tes that propor ti o nally, very few media have appoin ted an ombuds -

man. In England, The Guar dian and The Obser ver are the only media with

an ombuds man. News media on the Euro pean conti nent also have ombud -

smen. Their main sphere of action is north-western Europe (Sweden,

Denmark, the Nether lands), which is under stand able given the long tradi -

tion of press free dom in these coun tries. In France, Le Monde has appoin -

ted an ombuds man and readers' editors are active at several regi o nal daily

papers. The radio and tele vi sion chan nels France 2, France 3 and France

Inter na ti o nale also have news ombud smen. Several major newspa pers in

Spain, such as El País or La Vang u ar dia, employ ombud smen but among

these few presen ting a criti cal asses sment of the contents of their own paper

in their weekly column, they are an exception rather than a rule (EJO,

2006).

6 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Swit zer land has its own speci fic variety of media ombuds man. Since

1996, the Neue Luzer ner Zeitung has a readers hip coun cil dealing with

complaints from citi zens but also opera ting as a criti cal obser ver itself. A

media expert recrui ted from outside the newspa per was only prepa red to

serve as an ombuds man if he could surround himself with a collec tive of

readers from the vari ous Swiss cantons. Accor ding to the ombuds man, their

speci fic know ledge of their own cantons was a prer equi site for him to

properly fulfil the duties of an ombudsman.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Eastern Euro pean coun tries have

taken some steps to esta blish media ombud smen (the Baltic states), but in a

few cases these ombud smen are offi ci als super vi sing in advance whether

the appropri ate stand ards and values are upheld in radio and tele vi sion

program mes that are still to be aired.

In addi tion, media ombud smen are active in Canada, Austra lia and

South Africa. In Latin America, only Argen tina, Brazil and Colom bia have

news ombud smen. In Asia, with the excep tion of Turkey and India, the

ombuds man is a virtu ally unknown pheno me non.

The Netherlands

In the Nether lands, the newspa per De Volks krant has had a full-time

ombuds man since Septem ber 1997. The NOS broad cas ting orga ni sa tion

recently appoin ted an ombuds man as well. In addi tion, some regi o nal

newspa pers employ readers' editors and a few ombud smen, but these posi -

ti ons are usually combi ned with other jour na lis tic respon si bi li ties. All in

all, twelve Dutch news media have some form of ombuds man func tion, but

the scope of these func ti ons differs vastly. For exam ple, two readers' editors

stated that they were expres sly orde red to refrain from ventu ring any criti -

cal comments on the contents of their newspa per. Some ombuds man func -

ti ons have been scrap ped, parti ally as a result of media concen tra ti ons and

mergers (Het Rotter dams Dagblad). Others have been set up, for exam ple

with the Media Groep Limburg. At the same time, a wide variety of acti vi -

ties has been intro du ced, prima rily at the newspa pers, that are aimed at

inten si fy ing reader contact and touch on the func tion of a readers' editor.

The image of the ombuds man func tion in Dutch media is discussed in a

separate chapter of this report.

There is yet anot her trend under pin ning the deve lop ment of ombud -

News ombud smen at home and abroad 7

smen in the Dutch media. The regi o nal papers in parti cu lar are very deter -

mi ned to hold on to their readers by provi ding more trans pa rency

regar ding the crea tion of the jour na lis tic product. They do not focus solely

on the func tion of a self-regu la ting ombuds man, but also take steps in the

fields of public rela ti ons and marke ting. Rela ted acti vi ties include setting

up neighbour hood newspa per consul ta ti ons, orga ni sing a readers' jury and

having an editors bus go around the area. The Tuban tia daily newspa per

intro du ced the concept of Virtual Village Squa res, a Tuban tia web site allo -

wing citi zens to report on events and deve lop ments that have attrac ted

their special attention in their own neighbourhood.

Howe ver, acti vi ties such as these, invol ving reader commit ment by the

newspa pers, cannot all be ranged under the heading of self-regu la tion. For

that reason, they will not be consi de red in this report. This research report

pertains to the self-regu la ting acti vi ties by news media through ombud -

smen. A signi fi cant part of this report featu res three sub-studies into

ombud smen's columns, viz. the columns writ ten by the ombuds man of De

Volks krant, the readers' editor (now scrap ped) of Het Rotter dams Dagblad

and the ombuds man of the NOS. This selec tion was moti va ted by the fact

that the ombuds man of De Volks krant and the former readers' editor of

Het Rotter dams Dagblad illu strate two diffe rent types of news ombuds man

func ti ons, opera ting on the basis of its own statute and with a maxi mum

degree of inde pen dence. The NOS ombuds man illu stra tes a simi lar

function at an audiovisual medium.

From responsibility to accountability

If larger numbers of news ombud smen and a truly global presence fail to

mate ri a lise, the insti tu tion of ombuds man will have diffi culty holding its

own. Vari ous deve lop ments in society are thre a te ning the posi tion of

ombud smen with the indi vi dual news media. Due to globa li sa tion, the

growing empo wer ment among citi zens and the decli ning quality of news

media, incre a singly more news consu mers are prepa red to hold the news

media accoun ta ble for jour na lis tic produc ti ons. Whereas until recently

jour na lists were called to account on their respon si bi lity, in recent years a

clear shift has set in towards accoun ta bi lity. This is illu stra ted by initi a ti ves

such as the Domme ring commit tee, esta blis hed by the Asso ci a tion for

Media and Commu ni ca tion Law (Vere ni ging Media- en Commu ni ca tie -

8 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

recht, VMC), to arrive at a self-regulating organisation qualified to impose

sanctions.

The shift from respon si bi lity to accoun ta bi lity is also reflec ted in the fact

that news media are repla cing ombud smen with a back ground in jour na -

lism by succes sors with a legal back ground. In 2007 this was the case, for

exam ple, with the British daily paper The Guar dian. It goes without saying

that this under mi nes the self-regu la ting role of the media with regard to

jour na lis tic-ethi cal issues.

A second social deve lop ment is the rapid advent of blogs, putting the

func tion of ombuds man in perspec tive. Early this year (2008) the body of

Ameri can news ombud smen made a big fuss about a plea by a fellow jour -

na list, Simon Dumenco of New York Maga zine, to abolish the func tion of

ombuds man. In an arti cle in Adver ti sing Age Dumenco wrote that blog gers

have jointly obli te ra ted, in effect, the neces sity and the meaning of an

ombuds man at a newspa per, maga zine, radio and TV. Blog gers, for that

matter, have far better and faster ways to check news editors for mista kes

and jour na lis tic blun ders than their own ombud smen, accor ding to his

analy sis. (Source: http://adage.com/media works/article?article_id=125845,

http://www.media-ombudsman.nl/webgen. aspx?p=6&o=56)

Financial burden

The third nega tive deve lop ment with regard to the concept of news

ombuds man comes from the finan cial domain. In early 2008, Profes sor

Edward Wasser man, jour na lis tic ethi cist of the Washing ton and Lee

Univer sity of Lexing ton, poin ted out that the Minne a po lis' Star Tribune,

the Balti more Sun and the Boston Globe had scrap ped their ombuds man

posi ti ons because they could no longer afford the expen ses invol ved. In

March of that year, for that same reason, the Orlando Senti nel deci ded

against repla cing its reti ring ombuds man. From that moment on, the

number of news ombud smen in the United States plum me ted: during the

course of 2008, the Louis ville Courier Jour nal, the Hart ford Courant, USA

Today and the Sacra mento Bee repor ted that they had abolis hed their

ombuds man posi ti ons, as did the Chicago Tribune and the Palm Beach

Post.

In a time of budget cuts, fierce media criti cism from the blog sector and

direct email contact between news consu mers and jour na lists, ombud smen

News ombud smen at home and abroad 9

make a vulne ra ble target for cost-consci ous publis hers. Parti cu larly in the

Ameri can world of jour na lism, the pres sure of making a profit weakens the

self-regu la ting func tion of the daily newspa pers. As compa ra ti vely few

news orga ni sa ti ons employ an ombuds man, they tend to be regar ded as

luxury instru ments. An ombuds man posi tion (frequently fulfil led by a

jour na list with many years of expe rience) gene rally pays well, makes only a

small contri bu tion to the content of the news medium and utili ses talent

that is direly needed by ever dimi nis hing news edito rial staff. Tim Frank lin,

the editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Sun, opined:

'In a time of tighte ning resour ces, we asked oursel ves two basic ques ti -

ons: is there anot her way for us to be trans pa rent and respond to readers'

concerns and could The Sun bene fit by having one of its best and most

expe rien ced editors re-engaged in the mix of the daily newspa per? For us

the answer to both of those ques ti ons was yes.'

And Nancy Barnes, his coun ter part from the Minne a po lis' Star Tribune,

repor ted:

'At a time when resour ces are tight, we have had to make some very diffi -

cult deci si ons about how every resource is being used. Right now, I believe

we owe the readers more smart jour na lists repor ting and editing the news

than criti quing the news.'

Once the above Ameri can newspa pers had scrap ped their ombuds man

posi ti ons, several maga zi nes set up web logs to improve commu ni ca ti ons

between readers and jour na lists. Howe ver, such instru ments can only take

over part of the duties of ombud smen. 'Blogs are no substi tute for newspa -

pers owning up to their own mista kes,' says Pam Platt, former chair of the

Orga ni za tion of News Ombud smen (ONO). 'I think ombud smen build

credi bi lity, just as when newspa pers print their correc ti ons it builds credi bi -

lity. No amount of outside scru tiny can build credi bi lity as well as a news

outlet's own efforts to confront its mistakes.'

The fate that hangs over ombud smen in the United States is perhaps

best illu stra ted by a noti fi ca tion from Cheryl Dell, publis her of the Sacra -

mento Bee in Cali for nia, that this paper would scrap the posi tion of

ombuds man with effect from 1 Septem ber 2008. The letter from the publis -

her reads as follows:

'This note is to let you know about a change that we will be publi cly

announ cing next week. Effec tive Septem ber 1, Armando Acuna will move

from the posi tion of public editor into a new role as asso ci ate featu res editor

10 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

in the news room. We are making this change as part of our ongoing

restruc tu ring, a process that has invol ved a constant focus on our mission

and the prio ri ties that serve that mission.

The public editor role has been a valu a ble part of the Bee's opera tion for

several deca des. Armando has excel led in the job since 2005, and the change

reflects in no way on his perfor mance. Instead, the deci sion acknow led ges

several reali ties, the most pres sing being our compa ny's need to focus our

resour ces on news gat he ring, adver ti sing sales and custo mer service. We are

exami ning every posi tion with an eye on these priorities.

Times have changed since the era in which ombud smen and public

editor jobs were esta blis hed. Readers now have multiple ways to be heard

within the newspa per and in the commu nity. Bee jour na lists are acces si ble

via email, and we publish their phone numbers as well. Newspa pers in

gene ral have become more acces si ble to the public. Most recently, editor

Mela nie Sill has been writing a weekly column as a way to converse regu -

larly with readers. And I inter act with readers via phone or e-mail virtu ally

every day.'

Although the number of news ombud smen in the United States is

propor ti o nally small, their work is never the less deemed incre a singly vital.

Accor ding to Geneva Over hol ser, former ombuds man of the Washing ton

Post and now attached to the Missouri School of Jour na lism, the Ameri can

world of jour na lism is enter tai ning a lively debate on the value of media

objecti vity, increasing partiality in journalism, the efficiency of ideolo gical

circles in mani pu la ting the media and the incre a sing secrecy of the Ameri can

govern ment. Accor ding to Over hol ser, it is there fore of para mount impor -

tance that the jour na lis tic sector makes its voices heard, clearly and power -

fully.

Scientific research

Ever since the first news ombuds man took up office in Kentucky, only

occa si o nal research has been conduc ted into the status, the perfor mance

and the effec ti ve ness of ombud smen at news media. The avai la ble empi ri -

cal studies are mainly from North Ameri can origin and usually pertain to

the role of an ombuds man at a speci fic newspaper.

Bernier (2003) analy sed the perfor mance of the ombuds man at Société

Radio-Canada and Nemeth (2000) also analy sed the work of an ombuds -

News ombud smen at home and abroad 11

man, viz. the first Ameri can ombuds man at the Courier Jour nal in Louis -

ville (Kentucky). This scien tist also colla bo ra ted on studies into the content

of columns writ ten by ombud smen: the manner in which a dialo gue with

the public is spar ked (Nemeth & Sanders, 1999) and the type of topics

discus sed in the columns (Nemeth & Sanders, 2001).

Other studies pertain to the rela ti ons hip between the presence of an

ombuds man and the percep tion by others. Bernstein (1986, cf. Hartung,

JaCoby and Dozier, 1988) inves ti ga ted the rela ti ons hip between public

appre ci a tion of an ombuds man and the extent to which the public was

aware of or had contact with an ombuds man. Prit chard (1993) studied the

influ ence of ombud smen on the ethi cal views among jour na lists. The views

of ombud smen them sel ves have been exami ned as well, for exam ple, in

studies into ombud smen's concep ti ons of their duties (Ettema & Glas ser,

1987; Starck & Eisele, 1999) and studies into their ethical views (Cline,

2008).

Howe ver, hardly any inter na ti o nal compa ra tive studies have been

conduc ted into the role of ombud smen across the globe. The main docu -

ment in this respect is an analy sis dating from 2007, carried out by the

Euro pean Jour na lism Obser va tory in Lugano: Vier zig Jahre Pres se om buds -

mann - Wer sind die Leser schaft sanwälte und wie kommu ni zie ren sie? -

Eine vergleichende Analyse (Elia 2007). In the Nether lands, Van Dalen and

Deuze conduc ted a study into media ombud smen in 2006: Readers' Advo -

ca tes or Newspa pers' Ambas sa dors? (Van Dalen & Deuze, 2006). This study

is, howe ver, limi ted to ombud smen at Dutch daily newspapers.

Unlike the exis ting research results, the study carried out by the Nether -

lands Media Ombuds man Foun da tion (Stich ting Media Ombuds man

Neder land, MON) focu ses on the perfor mance of the news ombuds man in

rela tion to the quality of the medium he or she works for. In this manner,

the MON foun da tion intends to paint a picture of the role played by the

ombuds man in the field of jour na lis tic self-regulation.

The duties of a media news ombudsman

Origi nally, a news ombuds man's duty was to serve as a liai son between the

newspa per, the radio station or the tele vi sion chan nel and its readers, liste -

ners or viewers and bring about a dialo gue with them. The ombuds man

provi des trans pa rency, bolsters the quality of the jour na lis tic product and

12 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

is accoun ta ble to the readers, liste ners or viewers on behalf of his own news

medium. News consu mers need to know that their complaints will receive

a clear and well-consi de red answer. Publi city is not always essen tial;

answers may also be provi ded by email, telep hone or letter. The point is

that they know there is some one who will voice their opinion.

A meaning ful dialo gue with readers, liste ners or viewers is vital in main -

tai ning credi bi lity. The role of guide to news consu mers gene ra tes time and

resour ces for a dialo gue that helps readers to under stand the profes sion of

jour na list, while keeping fellow jour na lists alert to ques ti ons and concerns

from readers. An ombuds man whose posi tion was recently scrap ped

commen ted in this respect:

'I have preven ted legal action, comba ted plagi a rism, reque sted atten tion

for issues that resul ted in policy changes, helped subscri bers avoid

nightma res, saved some subscrip ti ons but failed to save others, brought

peace in all manner of dispu tes. I even helped a lady find out how many eggs

she needed to make an egg salad for some forty members of the Women's

Missi o nary Guild in her church. This is typi cal for any ombuds man, but I

cannot tell you how many times I heard a "Thank you" from readers I

helped out in all kinds of trouble.'

A second duty of an ombuds man with a news medium is to moni tor

criti cally and if need be correct the jour na lis tic output of his own medium.

It is this duty that best reflects the purpose of self-regu la tion, espe ci ally if

the ombuds man opera tes on an inde pen dent basis and has a weekly

column in which to explain to the news consu mer where his news medium

has made mista kes and how these can be preven ted. This is an ombuds -

man's main but at the same time most diffi cult duty. Pres sure from his own

medium on his perfor mance is severe, as his fellow jour na lists find it hard

to stomach that the ombuds man is admit ting the mista kes that they have

made to the readers. Hence the Ameri can saying: "the ombuds man washes

our dirty linen in public". Stories on inter nal clas hes with regard to the

work of news ombudsmen are legion.

Over the years, the origi nal tasks set for news media ombud smen have

hardly changed. Their workload, howe ver, has incre a sed drama ti cally due

to the advent of web sites and blogs offe ring arti cu late citi zens an easy way

to complain about jour na lis tic produc ti ons. Incre a singly more citi zens find

their way to a newspa per to vent their gall on the course it is stee ring, report

alle ged mista kes and demand rectifications.

News ombud smen at home and abroad 13

Various types of ombudsman

Worldwide, many diffe rent types of news ombuds man are active. In order

to map out this diver sity, the MON Foun da tion draf ted a ques ti on naire,

which was filled in by the ombud smen atten ding an inter na ti o nal confe -

rence orga ni sed by the Orga ni za tion of News Ombud smen in Stock holm,

in May 2008. This ques ti on naire is included in this report.

The func tion of a media ombuds man is often assu med to be twofold.

On the one hand, ombud smen play a condu cive role in forcing the news

media to give more account of their acti vi ties, on the other, they help to

streng then the ties between the news media and the news consu mers.

Howe ver, the outco mes of the MON ques ti on naire demon strate that the

concept of ombuds man takes on many more guises at the inter na ti o nal

level, guises that are reflec ted in the many diffe rent names they bear. A host

of names crop ped up in the ques ti on naire, such as ombuds man, readers'

repre sen ta tive, public editor, readers' editor, commu nity advo cate and

advisor on journalism ethics.

Gaining clarity on the compe ten ces and inde pen dent posi tion of

ombud smen, which are essen tial to the self-regu la ting effect of an ombuds -

man, is no simple matter. Among the respon dents to the ques ti on naire,

some state not to be accoun ta ble to anyone, while an equally small number

is accoun ta ble to the editor-in-chief, but the bulk is accoun ta ble to the

mana ge ment or the Board of Direc tors of the orga ni sa tion for which they

work. That is why many news consu mers are scep ti cal with regard to

whether a news ombuds man can operate with full independence.

The ques ti on naire shows that the prevai ling image of a news ombuds -

man as a criti cal moni tor of jour na lis tic output does not quite corres pond

with reality. At most we can state that the ombuds man func tion in western

coun tries (Western Europe, US, Canada, Austra lia) paral lels the ideal image

of the news ombuds man as an inde pen dent, criti cal asses sor more closely

than it does in media across Latin America, Eastern Europe or Africa.

Credibility of the news media

"Credi bi lity" is a term that cannot be left out of consi de ra tion in defi ning

the impor tance of a news ombuds man. Credi bi lity is the grea test good the

news media hold. The key role a news ombuds man plays in main tai ning or

14 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

streng the ning that credi bi lity is unpa ral le led by other self-regu la tion

instru ments. An editor-in-chief intro du cing the posi tion of ombuds man at

his paper poin ted out that it is not the duty of an ombuds man to make

himself, his editor-in-chief or even his paper popu lar or favou rite. "It is his

job to earn or regain the respect of the readers, which is an impor tant objec -

tive. In the long run, credi bi lity is the only element insti ga ting the public to

read, believe, support and buy a newspaper."

Although news media across the globe are acti vely expoun ding to the

public what choi ces they are making, what every day prac tice is in the world

of jour na lism and what problems it presents, their credi bi lity is wanting. In

2005, a study conduc ted by the Pew Rese arch Center, an impar tial research

orga ni sa tion in Washing ton, demon stra ted that the credi bi lity of the news

media has been showing a down ward trend for many years. Parti cu larly

salient is the dimi nis hing credi bi lity of the daily newspa pers. Two deca des

ago, accor ding to the Pew Rese arch Center, 16 per cent of the Ameri can

public belie ved very little, if anyt hing, of what they read in the papers. By

2005, this percen tage had risen to 45 per cent, which means it nearly tripled.

The Ameri can citi zen, for that matter, is hardly confi dent that the news

media will deal fairly with the mista kes they make. In 1985, 55 per cent felt

that the media tried to cover up their mista kes rather than dealing with

them in an open fashion. By 2003 this percentage had risen to 62 per cent.

Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO)

News ombud smen from all over the world have joined forces in the Orga -

ni za tion of News Ombud smen (ONO). This orga ni sa tion descri bes the

role of a news ombuds man as some one who "recei ves and inves ti ga tes

complaints from newspa per readers or liste ners or viewers of radio and

tele vi sion stati ons about accu racy, fair ness, balance and good taste in news

cove rage" and who "recom mends appropri ate reme dies or respon ses to

correct or clarify news reports".

ONO orga ni ses annual confe ren ces at a venue alter na ting between the

vari ous conti nents. During these ONO confe ren ces, ombud smen exchange

expe riences, which contribu tes towards reinfor cing the ombudsman function

at the global level. Anot her strength of ONO is its web site, through which

issues rela ting to jour na lis tic ethics are brought up every week and some ti mes

every day, and which enables ombud smen to exchange expe riences.

News ombud smen at home and abroad 15

In 2007, in order to promote unifor mity in the perfor mance of news

ombud smen, ONO formu la ted a code of ethics, which has been laid down

as the orga ni sa ti on's Mission State ment.

MISSION STATEMENT

The news ombuds man is dedi ca ted to protec ting and enhan cing the

quality of jour na lism by encou ra ging respect ful and truthful discourse

about jour na lism's prac ti ces and purpo ses.

¨ The news ombudsman's primary objective is to promote

transparency within his/her news organisation.

¨ The ombudsman works to protect press freedom and promote

responsible, high-quality journalism.

¨ Part of the ombudsman's role is to receive and investigate

complaints about news reporting on behalf of members of the

public.

¨ The ombudsman recommends the most suitable course of action

to resolve issues raised in complaints.

¨ The ombudsman is an independent officer acting in the best

interests of news consumers.

¨ The ombudsman strives to remain completely neutral and fair.

¨ The ombudsman refrains from engaging in any activity that

could create a conflict of interest.

¨ The ombudsman explains the roles and obligations of journalism

to the public.

¨ The ombudsman acts as a mediator between the expectations of

the public and the responsibilities of journalists.

The recent decline in news ombud smen on Ameri can and Euro pean media

16 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

has put the ONO in dire straits. The orga ni sa tion has deve lo ped plans to

main tain and expand its influ ence, invol ving among other things a focus

on expan ding its members hip.

News ombud smen at home and abroad 17

18 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Survey on the news ombuds man

Huub Evers & Jan van Groesen

In order to gain a picture of the duties and autho ri ties of news ombud smen,

we reque sted the parti ci pants to the ONO confe rence of May 2008 in

Stock holm to fill in a ques ti on naire.1 ONO is the Orga ni za tion of News

Ombud smen, esta blis hed in the United States. Its members are some sixty

news ombud smen and readers' editors loca ted all over the world, albeit

Asia (with the excep tion of Turkey) and Africa (with the excep tion of

South-Africa) are not repre sen ted.

The confe rence in Stock holm was atten ded by around forty parti ci -

pants, 25 of whom were active as ombud smen. Three parti ci pants were no

longer in office; they comple ted the ques ti on naire in their capa city as

former ombuds man. We recei ved a total of 18 comple ted ques ti on nai res.

The answers may not be enti rely repre sen ta tive of all news ombud smen

but they give a good indi ca tion of the diver sity in views, tasks and autho ri -

ties in the varied world of news ombud smen.

The figu res stated are abso lute numbers rather than percen ta ges.

Survey

1. For what type of medium do you work?

a. Newspaper

b. Radio

c. Television

d. Internet site

e. Other, viz. …….

2. What is the exact title of your function?

a. Ombudsman

b. Readers' representative

c. Readers' editor

d. Viewers' representative

e. Other, viz. …….

3. Who took the initiative to appoint an ombudsman to your medium?

a. The management

Survey on the news ombuds man 19

b. The general editors

c. The editors

d. Other, viz. …….

4. How long have you held the office of ombudsman?

a. 1 - 2 years

b. 3 - 4 years

c. Longer, viz. …..

5. What is your background?

a. Journalist

b. Lawyer

c. Other, viz. …….

6. Were you already employed by the same medium you now serve as an

ombudsman?

a. Yes

b. No

7. If yes, in what position? ………

8. How many half days a week are you active as an ombudsman? ……..

9. What are your duties?

a. Dealing with complaints

b. Mediating between the editors and the readers, viewers, listeners

c. Advisor to the editors

d. Activities in the sphere of marketing and PR

10. Do you have other duties apart from your role as ombudsman?

a. Yes, viz. …..

b. No

11. Do you have your own statute?

a. Yes

b. No

12. If so, what does that statute govern?

a. Independent position

b. Authorities

c. Accountability

13. To whom are you accountable?

a. To the managing director

b. To the editor-in-chief

c. To the editorial board

d. To no-one

e. Other, viz. …….

14. What authorities do you have?

a. Participation in investigations conducted by the ombudsman is

mandatory for all the editorial staff.

b. The editorial staff is under an obligation to adopt the ombudsman's

point of view

20 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

c. Other, viz. …….

15. Please list the topics that receive the highest number of complaints.

16. Do you have your own column?

a. Yes

b. No

17. How often do you write a column?

a. Every week

b. Not on a regular basis

c. Other, viz. …….

18. Who determines the subjects for your columns?

a. You

b. The editorial staff

c. Others, viz. …….

19. In your columns, do you mainly respond to comments/complaints from

readers/viewers or do you base your subjects predominantly on your own

observations?

a. Complaints and other comments from readers/viewers

b. Own observations

c. Both, more or less in equal measure

d. Other, viz. …….

20. Do you submit your column to your editor-in-chief before it is published?

a. Yes

b. No

c. Sometimes

21. If you submit your column to your editor-in-chief, do you do so

a. For his information

b. For approval

22. Can you name the topics that feature most frequently in your columns?

23. Have internal or external parties ever conducted a study into the impact of

your work on the quality of the medium for which you work? If so, what was

the outcome of that study?

Results of the survey

1. For what type of medium do you work?

Nine respondents worked for a newspaper; two for an Internet site; two for

radio, television and the Internet; one for a newspaper and an Internet site;

one for a newspaper, television and Internet site; one for radio and

television; one for television and one for radio.

2. What is the exact title of your function?

Nine respondents bear the title of Ombudsman, four are Readers' editors

Survey on the news ombuds man 21

and two are Public editors. The designations of Readers' representative,

Advisor on journalism ethics and Community advocate are each stated

once.

3. Who took the initiative to appoint an ombudsman to your medium?

In eight cases, the decision to appoint an ombudsman was made by the

general editors, in seven cases by the management. In one case, the publisher

and the editor-in-chief took this decision jointly. In two cases, the

appointment of an ombudsman ensued from a government decision in a

media act.

The two ombudsmen appointed by law both work in the broadcasting

sector: one for a television channel, the other for radio and television. One of

them is referred to as an advisor on journalism ethics rather than an

ombudsman.

4. How long have you held the office of ombudsman?

Eight respondents indicated that they have been in office as an ombudsman

for a period of less than two years, four have been an ombudsman for a

period of three to four years and six have been in office for longer than four

years. Three respondents are no longer in office; they completed the

questionnaire in their capacity as former ombudsmen.

5. What is your background?

Nearly everyone (seventeen) have a background in journalism. Only one

respondent is a lawyer rather than a journalist; this is the one referring to his

position (see question no. 2) as "community advocate". This involves a

position established by the general editors but the incumbent is accountable

(see question no. 13) to the management. He/she works part-time (one day

a week), without a statute, on a combination of newspaper, Internet and

television.

6. Were you already employed by the same medium you now serve as an

ombudsman?

Eleven respondents were already employed by the medium they now serve

as ombudsman, seven were not.

7. If yes, in what position?

Here, four respondents state that they have held positions in journalism, five

report that they have had positions both in journalism and in management,

one respondent states that he/she was a member of the management team.

8. How many half days a week are you active as an ombudsman?

For nearly everyone (sixteen) the ombudsman work is a full-time job. Two

22 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

respondents work on a part time basis: one of them works as an ombudsman

for one day a week, the other performs ombudsman's duties every day but is

additionally charged with other duties as a deputy editor.

9. What are your duties?

All respondents deal with complaints from readers, viewers or listeners.

Apart from that, thirteen also mediate between editors and readers, viewers

or listeners. Twelve respondents monitor the news for fairness and accuracy.

Seven respondents act as advisor to the editorial staff on a structural or

incidental basis. No-one is active in the field of marketing or PR.

10. Do you have other duties, apart from your role as ombudsman?

A large majority (fourteen) of ombudsmen does not have other tasks aside

from his or her work as an ombudsman. Four respondents do perform other

duties: one is responsible for the corrections section, another does layout

and writes about music, the third writes commentaries, provides training

programmes and has management responsibilities. A fourth does not

provide any further information.

One respondent (former ombudsman) reports that his successor does

perform other duties.

11. Do you have your own statute?

A majority (eleven respondents) have their own ombudsman statute. Seven

respondents state that they do not have such a statute.

Five ombudsmen with their own statute work for a daily paper, two for an

Internet site, one for a television station and three for a combination of

radio, television and the Internet.

Three out of the eleven statute-holding ombudsmen state that they are not

accountable to anyone, one gives account to the editor-in-chief and the

other seven to the management or board of directors.

12. If so, what does that statute govern?

All eleven of the ombudsman statutes provide for the ombudsman's

independent position. Four statutes additionally describe the required

competencies for ombudsmen and three statutes lay down rules for their

accountability.

13. To whom are you accountable?

Four respondents state that they are not accountable to anyone, five give

account to the editor-in-chief and nine to the management. Here, some

respondents mention officials such as the president, the board and chair of

the foundation that is the largest shareholder.

Survey on the news ombuds man 23

14. What authorities do you have?

In nearly all cases (sixteen), participation in investigations set up by the

ombudsman is mandatory for the editorial staff. One respondent adds that

it is mandatory for all employees within the company, not just the editors. In

four cases, the editorial staff is obliged to adopt the ombudsman's findings.

One respondent reports that the editorial staff must rectify if this is deemed

necessary by the ombudsman.

One respondent states that he/she has but a single authority, viz. writing

about each complaint, whereupon the article is published.

15. Please list thetopics that receive the highest number of complaints.

Bias 2 9

Factual mistakes 8

Carelessness 6

Incorrect (unfair) actions 4

Language issues 3

Bad taste 3

Lack of balance in regional issues 2

Failure to devote (sufficient) attention to topics 2

Opinions and analyses 2

Photographs and cartoons 2

Need for elucidations, explanations 2

Objectivity

Misquotations

Offensive language or images

Technical errors (Internet)

Editorial policy, for example publishing names of juvenile suspects

Criticising the city administration in subsequent columns or reports

Inconsistency in treatment of similar groups

Abusive language in group emails to the media and the government in

general

Too much or too little attention for crime stories

Commentaries on website

Overprotective attitude towards migrants

Too little respect for people

Lack of information by the site

Complaints on programming (too much sports, too much violence in films,

etc.)

Complaints on airing times

Misrepresentation of facts

Invasion of privacy

Ethical issues

Overemphasis of news items

24 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Plagiarism

Disagreement with point of view

No or too little attention for specific subjects

National politics

Middle East

Partiality in the Arab-Israeli conflict

President's policy

International issues

Human rights in China (in relation to the Olympics in 2008)

16. Do you have your own column?

Nearly all ombudsmen (seventeen) have a spoken or written column, a

website or a weblog at their disposal. The one ombudsman without such

facilities is the one who states that he/she does the ombudsman's work "on

the side" and that his other duties include writing commentaries, providing

training programmes and management activities.

17. How often do you write a column?

Ten of the seventeen ombudsmen with a column at their disposal write one

every week. Two write a column on an irregular basis, two others every

month, another two state that they write a column every day or nearly every

day. Both of the latter two are Internet ombudsmen.

18. Who determines the subjects for your columns?

Universal agreement abides here: all respondents state that they themselves

decide what they discuss in their columns. Two ombudsmen report that

they take their lead from the readers or viewers, as the case may be, but no

doubt they mean the same: there is no interference from the editors or

whomever.

19. In your columns, do you mainly respond to comments/complaints from

readers/viewers or do you base your subjects predominantly on your own

observations?

Broad agreement here too: virtually all respondents write their columns on

the basis of complaints plus their own observations. Only one respondent

states that he derives his subject matter for his column solely from his own

observations.

20. Do you submit your column to your editor-in-chief before it is published?

Four ombudsmen submit their column to the editor-in-chief for inspection

beforehand. In all cases, this is only intended to inform the general editors.

One of these three respondents comments that in fact this is not the proper

procedure. Another ombudsman communicates the subject of his column

beforehand, to allow the general editors to provide an explanation if so

Survey on the news ombuds man 25

desired.

Three respondents do not submit their column for inspection beforehand,

eight do so occasionally.

21. If columns are submitted to the editor-in-chief, it is virtually always for his

information. Only one respondent reports (without further explanation)

that it is submitted for approval.

22. Can you name the topics that feature most frequently in your columns?

Images 3

Ethical issues 3

Language 2

Morals in online journalism 2

Balanced reporting 2

Fairness

Respect for minorities

Editorial decisions

Ways to correct mistakes

Ways to deal with sources

Incorrect information

Mingling information with entertainment

Current affairs

Investigation of journalistic processes

Information on journalistic processes and background information

Dealing with guests (radio)

Bad examples

Comparisons with the competition

Questions and comments from readers

Explanation in response to criticism of controversial articles

Contact between journalists and politicians

Actions (fund raisers, etc.) taken by listeners in response to broadcasts

Protection of privacy

Moderation: a bit more or a bit less would be nice

Issues pertaining to the right to information

Journalism and society

History of the press

Press freedom

Responsibility of the press

23. Has the impact of your work as an ombudsman ever been investigated?

Three respondents report that investigations have taken place.

According to one of them, investigation showed that among 77 per cent of

readers, the presence of a readers' editor inspired more confidence in the

newspaper.

26 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Another mentioned the Volkskrant study by Huub Evers, which is included

in this publication in the chapter on the columns by the Volkskrant

ombudsman.

A third mentions the article L'Ombudsman de Radio-Canada by

Marc-François Bernier; cf. the Bibliography in the chapter Literature

Consulted.

According to a fourth, the annual social audits of The Guardian have shown

that readers appreciate the presence of an ombudsman, as a result of which

confidence in the newspaper increases.

Notes

(1). The report on the ONO conference is available here:

http://www.newsombudsmen.org/ onoconferenceindex.html.

2). "Bias" refers to a conscious or unconscious prejudice in a journalistic product.

Survey on the news ombuds man 27

28 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Ombud smen and readers' editors in the Nether lands

An overview

Huub Evers

A publi ca tion such as this would not be complete without a current over -

view of the situ a tion in the Nether lands. In order to gain as complete and

up-to-date a picture as possi ble, we star ted out by consul ting the websi tes

of all the nati o nal and regi o nal daily papers. Subse quently, we contac ted

the ombuds man or readers' editor in ques tion by telep hone (and in some

cases by email). We asked him/her the follo wing questions:

¨ What is the of fi ci al de sig na ti on of your po si ti on?

¨ Do you work full-time or part-time as an om buds man or re a ders'

edi tor? The F or P in the over view, the re fo re, does not per tain to

the ap point ment of the in di vi du al in ques ti on (ne ar ly eve ry o ne is

em ploy ed on a full-time ba sis by the new spa per or broad cas ting

com pa ny) but to the ex tent of his/her ombudsman duties.

¨ What ot her du ties do you per form in ad di ti on to your work as an

om buds man? The sco pe of the se du ties va ries wi de ly: work pla ce -

ment co-or di na tor, edi tor of the re a ders' let ters page, or ga ni sing

re a der con tacts or the re a ders' jury, et ce te ra. Although Thom

Meens is also the edi tor of the Sup ple ments & Cor rec ti ons sec ti on

at the Volks krant, in ad di ti on to ser ving as an om buds man, he has

still been en te red as a full-time om buds man be cau se his edi ting

ac ti vi ties have been de ri ved from his po si ti on as om buds man.

¨ you have a sta tu te in which your in de pen den ce has been laid

down? Or, if this is not the case, is the re any ot her do cu ment (let ter

or memo from the ge ne ral edi tors, for exam ple) des cri bing your

du ties and aut ho ri ties? As is evi dent from the ans wers to this ques -

ti on, in two ca ses the ge ne ral edi tors have ex pli cit ly sta ted not to

ap pre ci a te a cri ti cal at ti tu de from the re a ders' edi tor. One of the se

ca ses con cerns a re a ders' edi tor with a statute guaranteeing his

independence.

Ombud smen and readers' editors in the Nether lands 29

¨ Do you have a wee kly co lumn at your dis po sal or is your co lumn

pu blis hed on an ir re gu lar basis?

This is the state of affairs as per Novem ber 2008:

Me di um Name Positi on Full-time or

part-time?

Other

ac ti vi ties?

Own sta tu te?

Co lumn?

De Volks krant Thom Meens O F

Edi tor of the

“Supplements &

Cor rec ti ons”

section

Sta tu te and wee -

kly co lumn

NOS Ton van Brus sel O F No Sta tu te and wee -

kly co lumn

Twent sche Cou -

rant Tubantia Aart te Vel thuis RE P

50% readers’ edi -

tor, in clu ding fi -

nal edi ting of

readers’ let ters

Own sta tu te;

co lumn is writ ten

by an

editor-in-chief

Dag blad

van het Noor den Jibbo Poppen RE P

Final respon sibili -

ty for dai ly

readers’ and opi -

ni ons page; con -

sul tant to

readers; editorial

pieces on religion

and ideology

NVJ job de scrip ti -

on for readers’

editor rather than

own statute; ma -

terial for “From

the general edi -

tors” co lumn rat -

her than own

column

Bra bants Dag blad Tjeu van Ras RE P

Con tact for

readers’ jury,

work placement

co-or di na tor,

organising

meetings with

readers

Memo from

general editors

independence;

weekly column

PZC Edith Ramakers RE P

Discussions with

re a ders, e.g., in

schools; readers’

actions; editorial

work: food

section

No sta tu te;

duties and

aut ho ri ties laid

down unof fi ci al ly;

weekly column

Dag blad De Lim -

burger/ Limburgs

Dag blad

Guus Urlings O P

50% editorial

work re la ting to

supplements

Con tract but no

sta tu te, wee kly

co lumn

De Gel der lan der Huub Kerk hoffs RE P

Work pla ce ment

co-or di na tor;

supplements;

readers’ pa ges;

readers’ actions;

special projects;

puzzles

No sta tu te;

weekly column

30 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

De Sten tor Nees Westerhout RE P

Organising

readers’ actions;

readers’ jury;

meetings with

readers; guided

tours; lec tu res;

edi to ri al work:

summer series

No sta tu te,

pro to col on

duties and

aut ho ri ties;

co lumn at

ir re gu lar times

Eind ho vens

Dag blad Ilse Wet zel RE P

Con tact with

readers; on-site

con sul ta ti ons; re -

gi o nal tours;

co-or di na ting

“Qu es ti on of the

Day”; moderating

online reactions

Job pro fi le but no

sta tu te; wee kly

co lumn

BN/ De Stem Piet Oost hoek RE P

50% readers’ edi -

tor with primarily

an explanatory

role; additionally,

editors’ manager;

quality manager;

mo ni to ring bud -

get; dealing with

expense accounts

Job description

but no sta tu te,

not in de pen dent;

own sec ti on at

ir re gu lar times

Alge meen

Dag blad

Nine cen tral and

re gi o nal readers’

edi tors

Readers’ edi ting F

Improving

relationship

between newspa

per and re a -

ders; organising

readers’ activities;

providing expla -

nations; answe -

ring critical

questions from

readers

Five regi o nal daily papers have a gene ral ombuds man's office to which

people can address their complaints regar ding consu mer issues. The

ombuds man editors of the Noord hol lands Dagblad, for exam ple, "try to

medi ate if you have a problem with a busi ness or insti tu tion" and publish

about such problems. This ombuds man service, provi ded by one or more

indi vi du als, is offe red by the IJmui der Courant, Noord hol lands Dagblad,

Haar lems Dagblad, Gooi- en Eemlan der and Leidsch Dagblad. All these

newspa pers are publis hed by HDC Media.

The Alge meen Dagblad has a total of nine readers' editors: central readers'

editors and regi o nal readers' editors in the metro po li tan areas in which the

AD publis hes its own regi o nal titles. All of them devote all their office hours

to this work. Readers' editors have their own secti ons in the "Onder Ons"

[Between You and Me] pages and at the nati o nal level in the Letters to the

Ombud smen and readers' editors in the Nether lands 31

Editor page. In those secti ons, they peri o di cally provide expla na ti ons or

respond to criti cal ques ti ons from readers. The work of the readers' editor

inclu des orga ni sing acti vi ties for readers aimed at rein for cing their

commit ment to the newspa per (for exam ple, "AD Media Cafés" on topi cal

issues) and respon ding to comments from readers. The object of the posi -

tion of readers' editor at the AD is to expand readers' invol ve ment with the

newspa per and, on the other hand, acquaint the editors with the fields of

inte rest of the readers.

32 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Expounder or critic?

A close look at the columns of the Rotterdams Dagblad

readers' editor (2001-2005)

Huub Evers

The Dutch newspa per Rotter dams Dagblad trea ted its readers and itself to a

readers' editor in cele bra tion of its tenth anni vers ary. At the initi a tive of the

then editor-in-chief Jan Prins they appoin ted Kees Haak, an expe rien ced

jour na list with a service record of many years at several newspa pers (Het

Vrije Volk, Haag sche Courant and Econo misch Dagblad, to name but a

few) as well as with the Fontys Univer sity of Applied Scien ces, Depart ment

of Jour na lism in Tilburg. Haak commen ced his duties with the RD on 1

April 2001. He was the first - and, as far as we know, up until now the only -

ombuds man or readers' editor in our coun try who did not come from the

newspa per's own edito rial ranks. His inde pen dence was addi ti o nally

under li ned in the "Rotter dams Dagblad Readers' Editor Statute". Accor -

ding to this statute, whose full text is prin ted in the appen di ces, the gene ral

editors' aim in appoin ting a readers' editor was to "improve the quality and

accu racy of the editors, thus impro ving the newspa per's credi bi lity". In

addi tion, they wanted to improve commu ni ca ti ons between readers and

editorial staff.

The readers' editor was char ged with the task of dealing - as an auto no -

mous and inde pen dent critic - with complaints and ques ti ons regar ding

the contents of the newspa per, thus asses sing whether the editors perfor -

med their duties in accor dance with the gene ral stand ards of caution and

care in journalism.

Every week, he wrote a column on his findings. Before the column was

publis hed, it was submit ted to the gene ral editors and to the editors it

menti o ned, albeit for their infor ma tion only. The editors in their turn were

obli ged to provide the readers' editor with all rele vant infor ma tion he

wished to peruse or receive.

Expounder or critic? 33

Kees Haak served as the readers' editor to the RD from April 2001 to

Septem ber 2005. During that period he wrote 170 columns, which as a rule

were publis hed in the Satur day paper. From 1 April 2004 onward, his

column was featu red once every two weeks. On 1 Septem ber 2005, the RD

ceased to exist as an inde pen dent newspa per; from then on, it was issued

under the name of AD/Rotter dams Dagblad.

This study focu ses on ques ti ons pertai ning to, among other things, the

inde pen dence of ombud smen or readers' editors. Is it possi ble for these

offi ci als to adopt a criti cal atti tude, in the sense of asses sing and evalu a ting,

towards the edito rial staff and the gene ral editors? And do they? To what

extent and in what manner? What themes are discus sed in the columns and

with what frequency? Do they usually respond to complaints from readers

or do they mainly present their own obser va ti ons? Do they also discuss

issues raised by their own edito rial staff? Do they come up with recom men -

da ti ons to improve edito rial policy? What aspects rela ting to profes si o nal

ethics are considered in the columns?

In this part of the study, answers to these ques ti ons were obtai ned by

survey ing and analy sing the columns writ ten by the former readers' editor

of the Rotter dams Dagblad. The columns were clas si fied accor ding to date

and subject(s), as many discus sed multiple subjects. Subse quently, we indi -

ca ted for each column whether the ombuds man was exer ci sing an expoun -

ding or an asses sing role. He frequently used his column to clarify the

edito rial policy in response to complaints. In other cases, he passed either a

posi tive or a nega tive judge ment on edito rial proces ses or products. This

some ti mes entai led criti cism regar ding arti cles or jour na lists' methods of

working. In some cases, he formu la ted policy recom men da ti ons, for exam -

ple, with regard to the paper's recti fi ca ti ons policy. For each column, we

also indi ca ted whether it featu red a theme pertai ning to professional ethics

in journalism.

In quite a few columns (60), Haak discus ses events and deve lop ments

that took place in the media world and that in his opinion, meri ted consi de -

ra tion. For exam ple, he frequently devo ted atten tion to events and deba tes

on the media in gene ral: the ratio between "male" and "female" news. Does

such a distinc tion exist and - if so - is that good or bad? Why do men

outnum ber women in news photos? He writes about jour na lism and the

multi cul tu ral society, the cove rage of the WTC cata strophe on 11 Septem -

ber 2001, the liber ties and respon si bi li ties of the media, the Nether lands

34 THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN

Press Coun cil, civil jour na lism, the inde pen dence of the press, the new

infor ma tion guide line presen ted by the Public Prose cu tor, silly season and

embar gos on the Queen's address at the begin ning of the parli a men tary

year or the govern ment budget. His columns were promp ted by events at

home and abroad, recent publi ca ti ons on jour na lism, the annual confe ren -

ces of the Orga ni za tion of News Ombud smen or columns written by fellow

ombudsmen in the United States.

What are the topics most discus sed by ombud smen, either because they

elicit many reac ti ons from readers or based on their own obser va ti ons? The

الوسيط LE MEDIATEUR

THE NEWS OMBUDSMAN Watchdog or decoy? Huub Evers Harmen Groenhart Jan van Groesen part 1

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