SPECIAL CONFERENCE EDITION
London, May 31 to June 2
Registrations for the conference are now open, and can be completed by visiting this page in the Members Only section of our website.
The password (in case you have forgotten it) is ETHICS22
I am pleased to announce that we have taken two steps to try to keep the conference as affordable as possible for members.
First of all, the conference fee (which includes the cost of the closing night dinner, as well as catering for the conference itself) has been frozen at the same amount we charged in 2019 – US$500.
Secondly, there is a discounted fee of US$250 for those members from certain countries who currently pay the discounted annual membership fee. If you are not sure what category you fall into, contact ONO Executive Director Alan Sunderland at newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com
The conference fee covers the costs of hosting the event. Both the Guardian and the BBC have generously provided their own facilities at no cost, but there are still a range of expenses associated with arranging travel and accommodation for speakers, printing and other technical costs, catering and the official dinner.
We are also hopeful that, by taking advantage of new technology, we can provide at least some translation services into one or two languages. Watch this space!
THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Work is underway on compiling the best possible agenda for members, and relevant speakers are being identified and invited. But we need your help!
Apart from keynote speakers on both days, the ONO Board will be organising discussions, panels and ‘shop talks’ on a range of issues. We need the input of members to ensure those issues are relevant and useful. So:
- If you would like to speak at the conference, participate in a panel discussion or moderate a session, let us know. We have some amazing talent in our ranks, and we would love to hear from you.
- If there is a specific issue or topic you would like to hear more about, let us know.
- If there is a specific speaker or a specific piece of recent research you’d like to see us include, let us know.
We will be back in touch with more information about the program in the next month or two, so NOW is the time to have your say.
ACCOMMODATION
There is no official conference hotel that we are recommending, at least partly because the two days of the conference will be held in two different locations across London.
The BBC is hosting Day 1 of the conference at the “Media Café” at Broadcasting House.
The Guardian is hosting Day 2 in the Scott Room at its London headquarters, Kings Place in Kings Cross.
The map below shows the location of the two venues:
Despite not having an official conference hotel, David Jordan from the BBC and Elisabeth Ribbans from The Guardian have provided a helpful list of nearby hotels at various price points.
They are:
LESS THAN £200 (POUNDS) PER NIGHT:
- Radisson Blue Edwardian Grafton Hotel, London
https://www.radissonhotels.com/en-us/hotels/radisson-blu-edwardian-london-grafton
- Z Hotel, Tottenham Court Road
https://www.thezhotels.com/hotels/tottenham-court-road
- Hub by Premier Inn, Goodge Street
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/hub-london-goodge-street.html
- Z Hotel, Holborn.
https://www.booking.com/Share-ux9sad
- Premier Inn Fleet Street, Blackfriars
BETWEEN £200 and £300 PER NIGHT:
- The Rathbone Hotel
- The Mandeville Hotel
- Club Quarters Holborn (Lincoln’s Inn Fields)
- Holiday Inn London, Regents Park
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/gb/en/london/lonrp/hoteldetail
- Holiday Inn London, Oxford Circus
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/gb/en/london/lonmr/hoteldetail
- Club Quarters St Paul’s
https://www.booking.com/Share-EAshbD
- Fitzrovia Hotel, Gem Hotels
https://www.gemhotels.com/hotels-london/fitzrovia-hotel
- Thistle, Holborn
https://www.thistle.com/holborn
- Langham Court Hotel – Gem Hotels
https://www.gemhotels.com/hotels-london/langham-court-hotel
- The Grafton Arms Pub
https://www.graftonarms.co.uk/
- Premier Inn Fleet Street, Blackfriars
- Astor Court Hotel
MORE THAN £300 POUNDS PER NIGHT:
- Home House, London
- Melia White House
https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/london/melia-white-house
- The Langham, London
https://www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/london/
- The Mandrake
- The Marylebone Hotel
https://the-marylebone-london.hotel-rn.com/
- Treehouse Hotel, London
https://www.treehousehotels.com/london
Given the generally high costs of London accommodation, we are continuing to search out other options, and if you hear of any yourself, please feel free to pass them on.
Our London board members advise that both the BBC and Guardian are on the Victoria Line (underground). Hotels around Victoria, although lying around 3km and 5km from the respective venues, may also offer greater value for money across a range of budgets.
OTHER NEWS
NEW MEMBERS
It’s been a busy few months for ONO, with quite a few new members from around the world joining our ranks, and several other inquiries as well.
In the last half of 2022, we welcomed new members from Australia (Amy Stockwell and Fiona Cameron), South Africa (Herman Scholtz), Canada (Donovan Vincent) and Mexico (Gaby Ortiz).
Since then, they have been joined by Arjen Fortuin, whohas taken over from Sjoerd de Jong as the new Ombudsman at Dutch newspaper NCR.
Arjen is an experienced journalist, author and literary critic, who became Editor of the Books supplement of NRC Handelsblad in 1999.
It is wonderful to have someone from NRC back at ONO once more.
Also in the process of joining up are Scott Kraft, the Editor-at-Large at the Los Angeles Times, who also oversees editorial standards, and two more members of John Daniszewski’s team at Associated Press, Karen Mahabir and Amanda Barrett.
It is great to see the ONO family continuing to grow, and I hope to see as many of the new faces as possible at our conference in London.
SHOP TALKS
Rest assured that we are planning to continue with our regular shop talks, despite the looming conference. Our first talk for the year will be announced soon, so as ever, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have a topic to suggest or a presentation you’d like to make.
WHO YOU GONNA TRUST?
The latest results from the world’s biggest and most respected survey of trust – the Edelman Trust Barometer – have just been released, and the results make for sobering reading.
As this news story reports, journalists overall remain among the least trusted professions.
There are also disturbing findings in relation to increasing polarisation and falling economic confidence.
RECENT DECISIONS, COLUMNS AND NEWSLETTERS FROM ONO MEMBERS:
- From Elisabeth Ribbans at The Guardian – journalists and statistics
- From Jack Nagler at CBC – when to correct and when to clarify
- From Arjen Fortuin at NRC – reporting on the dead
- From Kelly McBride at NPR – the rules of journalism
- From Tarmu Tammerk at ERR – covering elections
- From Margo Smit at NPO – the year in review
