PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE
By Ian Mayes

Officially, the Organization of News Ombudsmen is a professional organization. In reality, it’s a lifeline and a resource for journalists who deal with readers, viewers or listeners on a daily basis.

Say you are the editor of the Daily Bugle and you decide the time is right for your newspaper to have an ombudsman. No one else on the newspaper has ever held the position. In fact, no one at your newspaper knows how to pronounce ombudsman.

That’s where the ONO can be of most help. We can supply you with a sample job  description. We can show your representative how we do our jobs. We can tell him or her how we’ve resolved problems, how we’ve handled ethical dilemmas.

As ombudsmen, we are passionate about what we do and want others to succeed.

We also know that most U.S. newspapers have room for only one ombudsman on staff. That makes our organization even more important. Only another ombudsman knows what it’s like to, on a daily basis, deal with readers who are unhappy, who sometimes have good reason to be angry, who think all newspapers are involved in a conspiracy, who think journalists are biased, too opinionated and insensitive. Talking with other ombudsmen puts things into perspective.

ONO keeps in touch with members through a newsletter. We also have an annual conference in a member’s city. Recent meeting sites include Chicago, San Diego and Barcelona. In 2000, we will meet May 21-24 in Montreal. The agenda will include shop talk, speakers and panels. Conference topics have included coverage of sex crimes, use of anonymous sources, invasion of privacy, conflicts of interest, news councils, credibility and covering minorities.

Also, some U.S. members participate in monthly conference calls to discuss news practices and problems. We think of these in mini-conferences and often find, for example,  what concerns a reader in St. Paul, Minn., also will be on the minds of readers in Phoenix or Kansas City or Ann Arbor, Mich. We also communicate by e-mail. Members sometimes send out queries when they are writing columns to ask other ombudsmen about policies or if their papers have faced similar situations or ethical dilemmas.

Our ultimate goal is good journalism.

Information about ONO is available on our Web site, http://www5. infi.net/ono.

The site contains the membership list, which includes ombudsmen for newspapers and radio and television outlets.

ONO, founded in 1980 as an international organization, includes members from the United States, Canada, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Venezuela. Most members are employed by newspapers.

For more information, contact Art Nauman, ONO's executive secretary at artnauman@aol.com, call (916) 391-1314 or write 6307 Surfside Way, Sacramento, CA 95831.

Lubrano is the reader representative of the San Diego (Calif.) Union-Tribune.

ONO Home Page
What is ONO? | ONO Members | Columns | Articles
Journalism Links | ONO Conference

Top of the page