Holding ourselves accountable

U.S. papers dispensing with their ombudsmen are misguided, it is argued. Transparency is vital to rebuild public trust The ombudsman of The Observer newspaper notes that editors of American newspapers are shedding staff at an alarming rate as the financial crisis translates into a sharp downturn in advertising and readerships melt away and that among the casualties are 12 news ombudsmen: men and women who work within newsrooms, dealing with complaints, publishing corrections and writing columns and internal memos on their papers’ journalism. He believes that this short-term thinking is wrong and those in the UK who have yet to appoint an ombudsman need to ask themselves if they can afford to be without one: “It’s all about transparency. From transparency flows trust. Show your readers that you care about accuracy, about fairness, about getting the story right and you gain their trust. If they trust you they will buy you.”