A word from the board
Dear ONO member,
The ONO 2024 conference in Cape Town between May 15 and 18 is approaching fast. The conference programme (or click here if you prefer to see the PDF version) is nearly ready; this newsletter will give you a sneak preview. Panels range from tackling dis and misinformation, the latest challenges of AI, balancing the news during conflicts and covering elections and self-regulation. It is a packed programme. ONO conferences are singular occasions for ombuds and standards editors to meet their peers. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Cape Town. You can still register here.
For those of you who cannot make it this time, we will miss you for sure. But before conference time, ONO will bring you a virtual Shoptalk on the use of social media by journalists and newsrooms and how members address those issues. Keep an eye on your mailbox this week for the zoom invite coming your way.
At ONO 2024, we will tape key sessions when possible and livestream the ONO AGM on Saturday, May 18 – a date for your diary as we will be talking about the future of ONO. We want to have as many of you there, even if only virtually, for we will discuss what ONO can do for you in the coming year(s). We will also share tips and photos on the membership pages of the website. So, remember to pay your annual fee, if you haven’t done so already, or you can’t access all those goodies!
ONO is yours; we need your input!
Margo Smit, president
Jack Nagler, vice-president
Elisabeth Ribbans, treasurer
Chris Elliott, executive director
Weaponising language
ONO conference 2024, South Africa, May 15-18
“The first casualty when war comes is Truth” is an aphorism attributed to Senator Hiram Johnson in 1917 in a speech to the US senate. In the war between Israel and Hamas and in Ukraine, members report that it is the very language used to describe the facts on the ground that has become the bitter battleground between news organisations and their readers and listeners.
On day 2 of the ONO conference, in a closed session for members, the weaponization of language will be explored by Herman Scholtz, the SA Press Ombudsman and Jane Patterson, Director, editorial quality and training, for Radio New Zealand with Amy Stockwell, Australia’s SBS ombud, as moderator.
Here, Jack Nagler, CBC’s ombud, gives a flavour of what he is facing daily:
“My own intent is focused on the work we do as people who receive complaints – that more than ever in this past year, people seized on language and terminology as a sign of bias on the part of journalists.
Examples include many from the Middle East, and they cover issues big and small:
- Do you use the word genocide?
- Do you use the word terrorist?
- Active vs passive language (Side A “killed” people, Side B people “died” or “were killed”)
- Adjectives: face-to-face attacks were “brutal”, but bombs dropped on neighbourhoods are “relentless”
- What does it mean when we say “claim” as opposed to “say”.
- Should we call the Gaza Health Ministry “Hamas-run” to signal to the audience that this is not an independent entity but is wrapped up with the authoritarian leadership? Or should we never call the Gaza Health Ministry “Hamas-run” because that implies we don’t believe them when we would never say “Likud-run” health authorities in Israel? Or do you use it only sometimes? How do you decide when it’s appropriate?
- Is this a “war”?
- If it is a “war’, is it between Israel and Hamas? Israel and Gaza? Israel and Palestine?
Or consider gender stories:
- What does it mean if we say “they” instead of he or she?
- What does it mean if you say, “pregnant people”, as opposed to “pregnant women”?
Or climate:
- Is it climate change? Is it a climate crisis?
Or politics:
- What does it mean to describe someone as right-wing/left-wing?
- What about “far-right”?
- What about “fascist”?
- What about “anti-democratic”?
In a polarized environment, there are many instances in which no word is available that both sides of an issue can accept as reasonable. So how do journalists proceed in a way that avoids taking sides? And how do we deal with complaints of this nature? “
It’s not too late to register for the conference to discuss the answers to these questions and many more issues that will be debated by colleagues. Hit the red button to see the latest list of speakers and subjects.
New member – Peter Johnston
Peter Johnston has been BBC Director, Editorial Complaints and Reviews since March 2023.
Prior to this, in 2022, Peter led the BBC’s response to the Serota Review into editorial processes, governance, and culture, successfully delivering on wide-ranging commitments in the BBC’s 10-point impartiality plan.
Peter, who joined the BBC in 1994 working in audience research, was Controller / Director of BBC Northern Ireland from 2006. As Editor in Chief, Peter was on the frontline of impartiality issues in one of the most challenging environments, overseeing 700 staff and more than 8,500 hours of local radio and television content each year.
He had overall editorial and managerial responsibility for the BBC in Northern Ireland, including the BBC’s award-winning news and current affairs. This included one of the BBC’s main centres for investigative journalism, managing a wide range of sensitive projects and dealing with major political and editorial issues. He sat on the BBC Nations and Regions Board and on the BBC Northern Ireland Committee.
Among his roles and responsibilities are:
- Strategic oversight of the BBC Complaints process and leadership of the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU)
- The implementation of all commitments made as a result of the BBC’s 10-point impartiality plan, including all editorial reviews
Shoptalk with Susan Wessling and Gavin Fang
Two new members will be the speakers at ONO’s online Shoptalk on Tuesday, May 28.
Susan Wessling, who recently became the standards editor of The New York Times, and Gavin Fang, the editorial director for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, will be sharing their experiences of how their media organisations are dealing with issues arising out of the use of social media, both by individual staff and its wider role in the telling of stories.
News organisations feel they must formally engage with social media but this throws up many challenges: what are the rules for staff posting as themselves but clearly branded as journalists for a particular publication? What is the guidance for individuals acting on behalf of the news organisation when they post? In Holland, one broadcaster took themselves off social media altogether because of problems arising out of its use. When things go wrong in what form are corrections and apologies framed and on what platforms are they published?
Members’ columns and articles
Can we trust news from wire services?
Sandra E. Martin, Ombud, Globe and Mail (Canada)
What information does the 2024 Stanford University AI Indicators Report reveal?
Shieu-chi Weng, Ombud, MNEWS (Taiwan)
About the exorcism and “possible confusion” between reporting from other VRT channels and VRT NWS
Bert Lauwers, Ombud, VRT News (Belgium)
ABC interview with IDF spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, broadcast 8 April.
Fiona Cameron, Ombud, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Debating the Details
Jack Nagler, Ombud, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Some other links to thinks that may be interesting or useful
The New York Times:
New Group Joins the Political Fight Over Disinformation Online
The group intends to fight what its leader, Nina Jankowicz, and others have described as a coordinated campaign by conservatives and their allies to undermine researchers who study disinformation.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
International Journalism Festival 2024: what we learnt in Perugia about the future of news
Spotting the deepfakes in this year of elections: how AI detection tools work and where they fail
Global Investigative Journalism Network
Lessons from Taiwan’s Resistance to an Election Disinformation Wave
NiemanLab
“Objectivity” in journalism is a tricky concept. What could replace it?
Columbia Journalism Review
When a reporter confesses to making things up, what’s a newspaper to do?
International Journalists Network
Journalists in Ecuador face mounting insecurity
This is your newsletter!
If you want to share your own experiences or have reports all ONO members should know about, find us at newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com and we will include it in ONO’s next newsletter.
ONO would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s conference
