Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists hails the appointment of the Express Tribune ombudsman
Posted by Federica Cherubini on November 5, 2010 at 5:09 PM
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) warmly welcomed the decision of the Express Media Group for appointing a news ombudsman, reported the Associated Press of Pakistan.A news ombudsman acts as a mediator between the expectations of the public and the responsibilities of journalists in order to promote accuracy, fairness, transparency and quality standards of journalism. His main task is to handle complaints from the public about news reporting and to provide a sort of internal quality control, writing columns or internal memos about complaints.
The Express Tribune, which launched earlier this year and is a partner of the International Herald Tribune, appointed as ombudsman Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, a well-known jurist and constitutional expert, who will occupy a non-monetary position. During his career he served as senior advocate in the Supreme Court, federal law minister, attorney general and the governor of Sindh, the paper said.
Readers are invited to contact him for every concerns and complaints about the fairness and accuracy of the newspaper and "The Express Tribune will accept his decision on these matters as final", the paper announced.
The PFUJ considers the initiative as innovative and important in order to promote "journalistic integrity and transparency." Moreover, "the PFUJ said the move of the Express Group is appreciable which would go a long way to uphold standard in the profession", the APP article reported.
The non-existence of codes of ethics, as well as the open violation of the basic principle of publishing news without proper checks or verifications has caused, during recent years, a decline in professional standards and made readers' criticism a self-evident reality, according to the PFUJ.
Jeffrey Dvorkin, Executive Director of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, was quoted in the paper congratulating The Express Tribune on taking this step. He said that "At a time when many media organizations seem to suffer from a disconnect from their audiences, ombudsmen are a unique demonstration that a media organization takes its commitment to the public seriously".
Source: Associated Press of Pak
Readers are invited to contact him for every concerns and complaints about the fairness and accuracy of the newspaper and "The Express Tribune will accept his decision on these matters as final", the paper announced.
The PFUJ considers the initiative as innovative and important in order to promote "journalistic integrity and transparency." Moreover, "the PFUJ said the move of the Express Group is appreciable which would go a long way to uphold standard in the profession", the APP article reported.
The non-existence of codes of ethics, as well as the open violation of the basic principle of publishing news without proper checks or verifications has caused, during recent years, a decline in professional standards and made readers' criticism a self-evident reality, according to the PFUJ.
Jeffrey Dvorkin, Executive Director of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, was quoted in the paper congratulating The Express Tribune on taking this step. He said that "At a time when many media organizations seem to suffer from a disconnect from their audiences, ombudsmen are a unique demonstration that a media organization takes its commitment to the public seriously".
Source: Associated Press of Pak
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