“Complaints button” by FindYourSearch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
ombuds UNDER ATTACK!
We all know the feeling. Whether you are setting and enforcing internal editorial standards within your organisation, or ruling on external complaints as an ombudsman, public editor or readers’ editor, not everyone will agree with the decisions you make.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. ombuds and standards editors are not above criticism, and since their job involves sometimes criticising others, they have to expect the same in return. It is not a job for the thin-skinned.
But there are times when legitimate criticisms spill over into attacks. Those attacks can range from abuse, doxxing[1] and social media pile-ons to legal threats, threats of violence or unfair dismissal from your role. In the past, ONO has even seen members arrested or imprisoned because of their work.
Here at ONO, we are keen to hear about your own experiences, not least so that we can offer support and solidarity. Our jobs can too often be lonely and unsupported, and it is good to know that your colleagues around the world often face similar problems to you.
To kick off the conversation, I wanted to draw attention to a couple of recent examples where news ombuds and standards editors have been attacked for doing their job.
In the Netherlands, ONO President Margo Smit was recently required to investigate a tricky case involving a broadcaster accused of breaching editorial standards in relation to potentially broadcasting incorrect information.
The broadcaster, Ongehoord Netherlands (rough translation “Unheard of Netherlands”) was found to have breached standards and was fined. You can read Margo’s findings here, and a report on the penalty imposed is here.
In response to the decision, however, the broadcaster is now claiming foul and threatening legal action. ONO, of course, makes no comment about the legitimacy of the legal action itself or its prospects of success, but the case serves to emphasise how quickly things can escalate when ombudsman simply carry out the duties of their role.
Meanwhile in Argentina, ONO Board Member and Public Defender Miriam Lewin has suffered a series of attacks and even calls for her role to be abolished because of initiatives she has undertaken since taking on the role. You can read more about that in this short summary: https://newsombuds.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Attacks-on-the-Public-Defenders-Office-in-Argentina.docx
These two examples point to the kind of attacks our members can face just for doing their jobs. Do you have more examples? We would love to hear about them, and include them in future newsletters. Pass on your thoughts and comments to ONO Executive Director Alan Sunderland at newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com
DID YOU MISS OUR VERIFICATION SHOP TALK and ONO Annual General Meeting?
The video of this event, featuring a guest presentation from Ruth Brown, Weekend News Editor, News Verification for AP in New York, has now been uploaded to the members only section of the ONO website.
You can access it here, or by going to the website, entering the members only section, and following the link to the recordings of shop talks.
The meeting also confirmed that, with the exception of Sally Begbie who has stepped down after many years of excellent service to ONO as a Board Member and Vice-President, all other office holders remain in place for the coming year.
You can find the complete list of ONO office holders here.
JUST A QUIET WORD…
It’s easy to forget these things with so much going on at the moment, but we still have a few members who have not paid their membership fee for 2022. If you are one of them (or you think you might be), get in touch with us at newsombudsmenorg@gmail.com and we can help sort it out.
ONO ON TOUR
It has certainly been the case that all of the issues surrounding Covid-19 have prevented ONO from holding a conference the last couple of years (a situation we are very confident of rectifying next year) but despite that, ONO Executive Director Alan Sunderland managed to get across to Europe in May and June for a holiday, and he took the opportunity to catch up with several ONO colleagues for “high level talks”.
After a very enjoyable lunch with BBC Director, Editorial Policy and Standards, David Jordan (sadly no photos exist of this important summit), Alan and his wife Julie O’Keefe travelled to Copenhagen (site of the sadly cancelled 2021 ONO Conference) to catch up with our Danish contingent. Bjarne Schilling from Politiken and Lars Bennike from TV2 very generously took on the role of tour guides and spent the day taking the two visitors around their wonderful country, while of course also discussing important editorial issues around trust and accountability. In the evening, they were joined by Jesper Termansen from DR (and everyone’s respective partners) for a very pleasant dinner at the Tivoli Gardens. The fine food, beer and wine ensured that more highly significant editorial discussions took place.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
- It’s a little bit US-centric in language and in background, but this excellent free style guide is a great tool for journalists everywhere: https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/07/lost-for-words-a-new-free-resource-offers-journalists-guidance-on-thorny-topics/
- From Australia, a fascinating case study on the definition of journalism and the rights of a government to ban a media outlet that it doesn’t consider to be real journalism: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-15/nt-independent-nt-government-media-ban/101152680
- The cyber war in Ukraine: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/07/14/russia-cyberattacks-ukraine-cybersecurity-00045486
- From Canada, a fascinating debate about journalistic freedom and giving offence. The media regulator there has ordered the public broadcaster (Radio Canada) to apologise for allowing the use of the ‘n-word’ in a program back in 2020. At the time, the ombudsman (former ONO member Guy Gendron) had ruled the use was not a breach of standards given the context. CBC/Radio Canada has said it will apologise to the complainant, but it is concerned that the regulator’s decision overstepped its authority and threatened the freedom of the press.
- Journalism that engages with communities – an example from Mexico: https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/07/raichali-noticias-focuses-on-community-listening-in-northern-mexicos-indigenous-communities/
- From the Czech Republic and the desk of ONO member Milan Pokorny, a discussion around the use of the term “assassination”: https://informace.rozhlas.cz/vhodnost-pojmu-atentat-8772292
- From Canada, ONO Member Sylvia Stead on the ongoing issue of “objectivity” as a key principle of good journalism (requires registration to access article): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/public-editor/article-objectivity-is-not-the-right-measure-of-journalistic-standards-and/
[1] doxxing: to search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the internet, typically with malicious intent.
