On May 25, 2010, the Canadian Journalism Foundation hosted a panel, “Keeping an Eye on Journalism”, about the role of the ombudsman in Canadian journalism. Jeffrey Dvorkin, former NPR News ombudsman, moderated the panel, which consisted of John Racovali, The National Post’s assistant managing editor, Kathy English, The Toronto Star's The Toronto Star’s public editor and Vince Carlin, ombudsman for the CBC.
The question up for discussion was “Is the watchdog function more effective inside or outside the organization?” There was no resolution to this question, however, below is a short dispatch on the discussion.
Dvorkin asked the panellists to describe their roles at their respective publications. Interestingly, each of their jobs differed slightly.
John Racovali performs a variety of duties at The Post. He serves as an editor for the newspaper and works on daily stories. He also responds reader complaints, investigates potentially problematic stories and, ultimately, reports to the executive editors.
At The Star, public editor Kathy English holds a position that has existed there since 1972. She reports to the newspaper’s publisher rather than the editors. She answers readers’ calls and emails, responds to their criticisms, and vets the veracity of any stories in question. She writes a column, too.
Vince Carlin responds to inquiries and criticisms about both print and broadcast stories at the CBC, and reports to the president of the CBC. He serves as “the public’s representative inside” Canada’s publicly funded broadcaster.
Here are a few interesting points of discussion:
- A big part of the job is explaining journalism to the public. Often, readers don’t entirely understand a story with which they have a problem. “I have to explain the nature of opinion journalism,” said Kathy English. “By its nature, it’s not fair. And [the reader] has the right to be offended.” John Racovali agreed, adding that he sometimes has to tell readers why a story is a good piece of journalism, even if the reader doesn't agree with it.
- All of the panellists agreed that the ombudsperson doesn’t function as a censor in the newsroom. However, Racovali admitted that the least favourite part of his job is occasionally altering stories after receiving legal advice. “I make sure that the story is safe,” said Racovali.
- While handling audience complaints is always challenging, legitimate issues from dedicated readers should be treasured, English said. especially as it grows increasingly difficult to monitor the civility of discourse in comments’ sections. This is particularly tricky for these organizaitons, who are ultimately liable for comments and can (and have been) sued for them.
- Handling readers' comments online was a dominant theme throughout the discussion, particularly once the audience Q&A began. Most panellists were disappointed by the quality of the discourse on their organizations' sites, and struggled with how to improve in. English said that in her role she participates in discussions about Toronto Star stories on other forums, including on blogs and other news sites.
CJF taped the event, which should be available here, along with recordings of other past events.