CONFERENCE LATEST
Work is well advanced on the program for the 2023 ONO Conference, which will be held in London from May 31st to June 2nd (with the Annual General Meeting to be held on the morning of June 3rd).
Thanks to the many members who have come forward with suggestions for panels, discussions and topics – we are working to include as many of them as possible, while also arranging for some interesting and relevant external speakers and sessions. We will be able to update everyone on some of the key sessions and speakers soon.
In the meantime, it has been really encouraging to see so many members planning to attend. We already have 7 completed registrations, and another 19 members have confirmed they will be coming and are starting to make their travel plans. No doubt there will plenty more to come, which means it is shaping up as a wonderful event, not least for the chance after almost four years for ONO members to meet up with each other and make connections.
Just a reminder that any members seeking more advice or assistance on hotel accommodation options beyond what we have already provided should get in touch with Alan Sunderland at newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com and we may be able to assist further.
NEW MEMBERS
It has been a wonderful few months for ONO: the organization is growing quickly, with new members joining on a regular basis.
As a result, we now have one of our largest memberships in recent years: 74 members from 25 countries.
The opportunities (especially during covid) to hold regular shop talks and share our experiences have been really positive in demonstrating the benefits of regularly sharing our knowledge and experiences.
I am sure you all join me in welcoming the following new members who have joined in recent weeks:
SOLEDAD ALCAIDE
Ombudsman for the Spanish newspaper El Pais
Soledad has worked at El Pais for 24 years in a range of senior roles, and was also Deputy Director of the UAM-EL PAIS School of Journalism from 2014 to 2018. She has both a law degree and a masters degree in journalism, and in taking on the role of ombudsman has expressed a desire to expand the role “to transform this figure and serve to explain to readers how the way of doing journalism has also changed. I hope to meet the need of readers to be in touch with their newspaper and we will collect their ideas to write better stories and make better information.”
EDWIN KREULEN
Ombudsman for Dutch newspaper Trouw
Edwin is a long-time Ombudsman at Trouw and we are delighted to have him join our ranks. Edwin is an experienced journalist who has covered a range of issues across his career, including legal issues, education, daily news, social sciences and the law.
He writes a weekly column on editorial issues, complaints and challenges, which can be found here.
SCOTT KRAFT
Editor at Large, Los Angeles Times
Scott is the Editor-at-Large for enterprise journalism and special projects at the LA Times, but in that role he is also responsible for editorial standards and practices. During nearly four decades at The Times, Scott has been managing editor, deputy managing editor/news and national editor, as well as a foreign and national correspondent. As an editor, he has directed work that won nine Pulitzer Prizes, and as a reporter he was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
Scott brings a wealth of experiences and knowledge to ONO and we look forward to his contributions to our discussions.
SUSAN MCKAY
Press Ombudsman, Ireland
Susan is the first woman to be appointed by the Press Council of Ireland as ombudsman for the Irish Press. The ombudsman role independently rules on complaints relating to the majority of Irish daily and weekly newspapers as well as magazines and online only publications.
Susan is a highly experienced author and journalist. Her books include Great Irish Reportage and Show Your Work – Essays from the Dublin Review, and her journalism has been published in the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, the New York Times, Field Day Review, the Irish Times and the Guardian. We are delighted to have someone of her calibre and experience as a member.
The best news of all is that all four of these members are hoping to join us in London, so it will be the perfect opportunity for all of our members, new and old, to meet face to face.
MEMBER COLUMNS AND ARTICLES
- MILAN POKORNY from Czech Radio on the age-old question of balance between government and opposition views in a democracy
- SILVIA STEAD from The Globe and Mail in Canada on the sometimes-misunderstood purpose of editorials
- KELLY MCBRIDE from National Public Radio on an issue that seems to annoy so many people – the practice of running old or repeat stories
- ALAN SUNDERLAND, Independent Journalist Member of the Australian Press Council, expresses a personal view on the state of media regulation in Australia
- FRITS VAN EXTER from the Council for Journalism in the Netherlands, dips his toes into the waters of journalism and artificial intelligence
- FIONA CAMERON, recently appointed to the new role of Ombudsman at ABC in Australia, issues her first investigative report, on a controversial story about race
- JESPER TERMANSEN from Danish Radio, deals with a request from a contributor to have content removed from their site
