On
the rash of Ombudspersons
It
seemed to Big Media that all they needed
to do to combat this tide of plagiarism
scandals is to appoint a few Ombudspersons.
To me, such a position is the biggest
bullshit job of them all. Sadly, some
of my friends say they enjoy the little
Ombud links (which the New York Times
displays prominently, as if to say, "one
reporter who made up enough stories to
fill four newsprint pages is rah-ther
trivial. Rah-ther trivial indeed
is the job.
On
the staff of the college newspaper I started,
we had what was called a Personnel Manager,
whose job was to allay the concerns of
those who had been sandblasted by yours
truly. That kind of job is in need. But
a job intended solely to assuage readers
because the editors are complete weaklings
is no job at all. Either you stand up
for your viewpoint or your don't, and
if readers don't like your reporting,
change it. Don't create an apologist to
do your dirty work.
|
