The Hindu : National : ONO's first member from India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

National

National

ONO's first member from India

Special Correspondent

The Hindu's Readers' Editor joins Organization of News Ombudsmen

K. Narayanan

Chennai: K. Narayanan, Readers' Editor of The Hindu , has been welcomed into the Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO) as its "first member from India," according to a communication from Gina Lubrano, executive secretary of the international organisation.

Founded in 1980 as a non-profit organisation to network news ombudsmen worldwide and to discuss news practices and issues connected with ombudsman work, ONO has an international membership approaching a hundred, nearly half of which is from the United States. News ombudsmen working in newspapers as well as broadcast organisations are ONO members.

The current head of the organisation is Ian Mayes, Readers' Editor of The Guardian. In his president's message published at ONO's website (www.newsombudsmen.org) , Mr. Mayes notes that the international organisation is going through "a period of significant growth in membership" for good reasons. "The proliferation of news media in recent years has brought with it a desire, almost a desperation, to find sources of information that can be relied upon. Membership of ONO is a clear statement of a commitment to getting it right, and a readiness to correct it when we get it wrong." Secondly, "the greater and better protected the ombudsman's independence, the greater the potential increase in trust, and the closer we move to the ideal of news organisations whose core job is to feed society with information comprehensive and reliable enough to form a proper basis for opinion."

ONO's annual conference is currently (May 7-10) in progress in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mr. Narayanan could not attend this meeting since his work as The Hindu 's Readers' Editor beginning March 1 has demanded his full attention at this early stage.

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