Category: Journalism

Nonbudsman?

This is a little late, but it looks as though CBS News has created a somewhat independent ombudsman position in the form of a blog called “The Public Eye.” The hopes are that the blog will:

create a candid and robust dialogue between CBS News journalists and the public [through the moderation by] veteran reporter and media writer Vaughn Ververs…

evidently the name “nonbudsman” was chosen to make the position seem more independent. Yet it’s not clear how CBS will avoid the previous problems with ombudsmen (sans non). Often an ombudsman offers the public someone within the organization to complain to, and those within the organization someone to ignore. While the idea of an internal watchdog sounds excellent (and is perhaps desired by the public), it’s difficult to give ombudsmen the teeth needed to make a more responsible organization. As we saw in the case of Dan Rather, competition (and PR) can often do the most effective job.

Perhaps rather than going with “nonbudsman” they could have chosen “ombudsperson.” 🙂

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