The Organization of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors (ONO) is a modern, international

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. ONO membership comprises

news ombudsman News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. New ...

, readers' representatives and standards editors from around the world, working online, in print, in television and radio. All are individuals who work for professional news organizations such as the BBC, the ''Guardian'', CBC, the ABC and SBS in Australia and the ''Hindu'' in India. Editorial standards editors work to maintain ethical practice in their newsrooms, while ombudsmen or reader representatives attempt to find mutually satisfactory solutions to complaints about coverage. Both standards editors and ombudsmen seek to explain the workings of journalism to their audiences. Since its inception in 1980, ONO has built an active cohort of European, Scandinavian, British, South American, Indian, Australian and Canadian editorial standards and editorial complaints handling executives. It is also working to strengthen relationships with the Asian news media who share its editorial principles of independence, fairness, balance and accuracy.

Purposes of ONO

The official web site of ONO states that it is: "Dedicated to protecting and enhancing quality journalism by encouraging respectful and truthful discourse about journalism’s practices and purposes." The Organization of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors is a best practice organisation, encouraging reliable editorial standards processes and effective editorial complaints handling mechanisms. ONO aims to: • Promote the values of accuracy, fairness and balance in news reporting for the public good. • Assist media organizations to provide mechanisms to ensure they remain accountable to consumers of their news. • Encourage transparency within news media organizations to develop trust within their audience. • Support the role of news ombudsmen, readers' editors and other mediators between the news consumer and the media organization.

Annual conference

The main event on the ONO calendar is its annual conference, which examines current challenges facing news media and news audiences and how those issues are affecting the work of its members. The 2019 ONO Conference was held in New York in association with the ''Columbia Journalism Review''. The conference, entitled “Journalism in a Polarized World – Sharing Common Ground", examined the role and responsibilities of news media, standards editors and news ombudsman in a time of heightened political, social and economic polarization. ONO's 2009 conference was held in Washington DC, at the offices of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, ''The Washington Post'' and the Washington Bureau of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The 2010 conference took place at

Reuters Institute The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) is a UK-based research centre and think tank founded in 2006, which operates Thomson Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme, also known as the Reuters Fellowship. History The institute ...

, and St Peter's College

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Oxford, England Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, the 2011 conference at CBC in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

, Canada, and the 2013 conference in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Conferences in Copenhagen (2014), Hamburg (2015), Buenos Aires (2016), Chennai (2017) and Amsterdam (2018) followed. Topics discussed at annual conferences are usually of an

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

nature, because news ombudsmen and standards editors are more often than not concerned with the ethics of reporting the news. Some of topics raised in the past include coverage of minorities, coverage of

sex crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

, the relationship to the news department, the use of

anonymous sources In journalism, a source is a person, publication, or knowledge other record or document that gives timely information. Outside journalism, sources are sometimes known as "news sources". Examples of sources include but are not limited to officia ...

invasion of privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. On 10 December 194 ...

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, finance, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, t ...

Mini-conferences

Besides attending the ONO's annual conference, many members of the ONO often participate in small mini-conferences which are conducted by conference telephone calls or email throughout the year. Members can raise issues they are dealing with and swap viewpoints on a wide range of topics that news ombudsmen and standards editors deal with on a regular basis. The goal is to provide participants with support, counsel and

problem-solving Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

ideas.

External links

NewsOmbudsmen.org
- Official ONO website. (The website is also available a
NewsOmbudsmen.comNewsOmbudsmen.net
an
NewsOmbudsmen.co.uk
Ombudsman organizations Journalism-related professional associations

Purposes of ONO

Annual conference

Mini-conferences

See also

External links