- Our final shop talk of the year:
“Talking to Reporters and Editors”
Thanks to everyone who was able to join us for our final catch up of 2021.
We had an interesting conversation about the challenges and processes involved in providing feedback to reporters and editors.
The discussion also provided a great opportunity for ombuds and standards editors from around the world to discuss the different systems they work under and the different powers they possess.
For those unable to join us, the recording of the session has now been loaded onto the ONO website in the members only section.
You can also find a link to it here.
Our next shop talk will be early next year, so stay tuned!
- Another new ONO member.
ONO continues to grow, and we are delighted to welcome to our ranks Charles Recknagel, the Standards Editor for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
Charles joined RFE/RL in 1995 as a correspondent in the Central Newsroom and largely focused on South Asia and the Middle East.
He reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, the Middle East, and Turkey and worked closely with Radio Farda on Iran issues.
Since 2016, he has been RFE/RL’s Standards Editor, responsible for maintaining and enforcing the media organization’s editorial guidelines for impartial and balanced journalism.
He has also worked as a journalist at Agence France Presse (AFP) in Nicosia and as a public information officer at NASA in Washington, D.C.
He holds an MA in Journalism from the University of Maryland (1979) and a BA in Psychology from Beloit College (1976).
Welcome aboard, Charles!
- ONO Board members on the road!
We have all found travel rather difficult in recent times, which explains why, for two years running, ONO has been unable to organise a conference.
But the challenges didn’t deter our intrepid Danish board members, who travelled to the Netherlands recently to catch up with ONO President Margo Smit.
Politiken Readers Editor and ONO’s Immediate Past President Bjarne Schilling, TV2 Viewers’ Editor Lars Bennike and DR Listener and Viewers’ Editor Jesper Termansen travelled to the NPO headquarters in Hilversum to swap ideas with Margo on a range of media issues.
They heard more about the special Dutch public service model where NPO gives the broadcast platform for NOS and different content providers of various political and cultural backgrounds.
It’s not a broadcast system you see in many countries – but a democratic idea in its core, as almost everybody can be seen and heard if they can gather support from 50.000 people in favor of a project and make a viable business plan.
Of course, they also squeezed in enough time to enjoy a pleasant lunch and show off their bicycle riding skills. We all know that photos are required for proper verification, and so here they are:
- Other member news:
- In Australia, two different inquiries are underway into the way the public broadcasters handle their editorial complaints. ONO Member and ABC Editorial Director Craig McMurtrie provided this explainer on how the system currently works.
- In the United States, the challenges of live interviews and the risks around overusing handy adjectives both come up for discussion in the latest newsletter from NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride.
- Who is a scammer? From Denmark, Jesper Termansen discusses the names we call people in our stories, and the problems that can cause.
- In Canada, Radio-Canada Ombudsman Pierre Champoux grappled with an issue I am sure many of us have faced – the reporting of ivermectin as a Covid treatment.
- From Switzerland, ONO Member Ignaz Staub has written this fascinating piece on the US drone war in Afghanistan.
| Margo Smit Alan Sunderland ONO President ONO Executive Director |
