October 11, 2011

Book Will Serve as Reference for News Ombuds

Jeffrey Dvorkin, the Executive Director of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, will soon publish the Handbook for News Ombudsmen. On his personal blog, Dvorkin provides a short excerpt that explains why Ombuds are important for media outlets.
A news ombudsman is not there to confirm the worst suspicions of the public, neither to placate management, nor to support the newsroom.

An ombudsman is there to act as a counterweight or antidote to the natural assumptions of any organization that everything that happens is usually for a good reason or is done for the best of motives.

An ombudsman is there to ask simple questions: “Are you sure?” “How do you know?”
The handbook is supported in part by the Open Society Institute and will be avialable soon from ONO. (Now the Details.)

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