A word from the board
Dear ONO member,
Plans for the 2024 ONO conference in Cape Town and Stellenbosch are well under way. In this newsletter we are asking members to tell us which speakers and what subjects they would like to see at the conference. Elsewhere we mark the arrival of two new members based in Australia and France. In Argentina, our colleague Miriam Lewin, the defensoría del público, has now been placed under formal notice by the country’s new government that her role and her office is to be abolished under a new law. The ONO board has written to members of the Argentine government and other public institutions in the country to protest at the proposals. The text of that protest and a summary of the latest situation is included in this newsletter. Her situation and that of all members who find themselves under hostile scrutiny by external forces, such as the courts or government will be the theme of Shoptalk on February 7.
This year looks to be just as busy and potentially fraught for members as the last but ONO stands as a repository of mutual support and knowledge for all our members.
Margo Smit, president
Jack Nagler, vice president
Elisabeth Ribbans, treasurer
Chris Elliott, executive director
ONO conference 2024: South Africa May 15 – 18
Plans for this year’s ONO conference are rapidly taking shape and a fuller timetable and list of events will be available in a special conference newsletter within the next month . This will also include details of how to register for the conference on the ONO website.
In the meantime, we need your help to identify the best subjects and the best speakers.
As last year, apart from keynote speakers on both days, the ONO Board will be organising discussions, panels and Shoptalks 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 Chris Elliott know ( chrismelliott51@gmail.com ).
ONO defends the Defensoría: protest to Argentine government
ONO has delivered a public protest to members of the Argentine government and civil institutions following the submission of a bill to eliminate the office of the Defensoría del Público.
According to Miriam Lewin, who holds the office, the bill follows negotiations with the Argentine congress, which has introduced some mild modifications to cuts regarding the Institute of Audiovisual Industry, the Institute of Theatre, the Institute of Music, the National Endowment of the Arts and the National Council of Popular Libraries. She believes the overall aim of President Javier Milei is to introduce confrontation between the communications and culture sectors.
Miriam has thanked the board of ONO for its support in sending the statement on January 24 and said it was “undoubtedly one of the most important endorsements we have received so far”. She has sought international support from UNESCO and the Interamerican Organization of Defenders of the Public is also sending their support.
The following statement was sent to:
Diana Mondino, minister of Foreign affairs
Victoria Villarruel, president of the Senate
Rodrigo de Loredo, president, Chamber of Representatives, Union Civica Radical
Cristian Ritondo, president, Chamber of Representatives, PRO
The board of the Organisation of News Ombuds and Standards Editors write to protest in the strongest terms at proposals to do away with the role and office of the Defensoría.
Throughout the world it is recognised that a free press, independent of government, is crucial in a democracy. The creation of the post of the Defensoría was a signal to the world that Argentina was such a democracy. Any attempt to shut down this channel for the voice of the people to express themselves without fear or favour would be a major blow to Argentina’s democratic status.
Our organisation, of which Miriam Lewin, the current Defensora, is an honoured and distinguished member, represents millions of viewers, listeners and users who all support freedom of speech and freedom of expression. We stand foursquare behind Ms Lewin and her team and urge President Milei to abandon his plans which will do untold damage to Argentina’s standing in the free world.
Margo Smit, ONO president
Chris Elliott, executive director
Shoptalk with Miriam Lewin and Margo Smit
Don’t forget to login for Shoptalk on February 7. Miriam Lewin (see above) and Margo Smit, who is the ombudsman for the Dutch public broadcasters (NPO) as well as ONO president, will talk about the external threats to their roles from governments and those using the courts.
The session, starting at 1:00 PM UTC, will be moderated by Lars Bennike, viewers’ editor at TV2 Denmark. A Zoom link has already been sent to members.
New member – Gavin Fang
Gavin is the editorial director for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He has been a journalist for more than two decades, starting in newspapers before joining the ABC in 2000.
His roles at the ABC have included foreign correspondent based in Jakarta, Indonesia; executive producer in the Asia Pacific News Centre; ABC news planning editor; managing editor coverage; and head of network and newsgathering before being promoted to deputy director news in 2022.
He played a lead role in designing and implementing strategies at the ABC to better connect audiences with more relevant, trusted and engaging news. As ABC news diversity lead, Gavin designed and led diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives and is a member of the organisation’s diversity and inclusion steering committee. He was co-editor of Pandemedia: How Covid Changed Journalism.
Gavin and his wife Bronwyn and two sons live in Sydney. Outside of work he’s a passionate Australian rules football supporter and a baseball player and coach.
New member – Robert Holloway
Robert is the ombuds at dlnews.com, an online news site which specialises in the coverage of decentralised finance and crypto currencies. The site won in the Best Trust Initiative category of the 2023 WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards, Middle East.
Robert previously worked for 33 years for Agence France-Presse, where his positions included acting editor-in-chief, foreign editor and head of the English-language desk in Paris.
He was AFP’s bureau chief in Sydney (1990-94) and correspondent at the United Nations in New York (1999-2003).
In 2007, he set up the non-profit AFP Foundation, which ran media training programmes in Africa, the Middle East and eastern Europe with a focus on development and conflict prevention. The foundation set up Africa Check, the first fact-checking website in Africa, in 2012, with Robert as chairman of the board.
After retiring from AFP in 2016, he helped the European Fundamental Rights Agency to develop an online reporters’ handbook on migration which emphasises the importance of objectivity, impartiality and independence.
Robert is a bilingual British-born citizen of France. He has a wife and one daughter.
Crossing ethical lines
An important ethical debate has been set out in an opinion piece here by Tom Jones for Poynter with the headline : “A Boston Globe columnist crossed journalistic lines. Should the Globe still have run his story?”
According to the Poynter article, Kevin Cullen, a Globe columnist, got personally involved while reporting on a woman who sought assisted suicide putting the Globe in an ethical dilemma.
Some other links to things that may be interesting or useful
The Intercept
Coverage of Gaza war in the New York Times and other major newspapers heavily favored Israel, analysis shows
The Atlantic
What Did Top Israeli War Officials Really Say About Gaza?
Columbia Journalism Review
Q&A: Ann Cooper on the AP in Nazi Germany and the politics of war reporting
The Fix
Behind the ballot: Covering elections for 2024
Journalist Resource
Research: 3 in 4 US adults can discern real political news headlines from fake ones
Covering obesity: 6 tips for dispelling myths and avoiding stigmatizing news coverage
Global Investigative Journalism Network
Rooftop Spooks, Internet Censorship, Governor Fashion Budgets: 2023’s Best Investigative Stories in Russian
Pew Research Center
Fewer than half of Black Americans say the news often covers the issues that are important to them
BBC: More or Less
More or Less is a BBC programme that deals with the use and misuse of statistics, often those used by news organisations. This episode , broadcast on January 11, has two interesting features on erroneous figures for the increase in gun crime in the UK and excess deaths after covid.
Google podcasts
Lee McIntyre, “On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy” (MIT Press, 2023)
Don’t forget your ONO subscriptions
I realise you are all very busy people but if you haven’t yet paid your subscriptions, please take 10 minutes in the next couple of days to do so.
You should have received your invoice by now – if not please let our hard-working assistant treasurer Elaine Carlton (rcarlton9@cox.net) know. It will also help her if you include either the invoice number or your name in your payment. Sometimes a fee appears in the system with very little to tell her who is paying.
We will be changing the password for the members-only part of the website on February 9, so only those who have paid will have access.
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.
