Washington Post Ombudsman Patrick Pexton
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2013-02-27/washington-post-ombudsman-patrick-pexton
Guest Host:
Paul Brown
For the last four decades, the Washington Post -- like many other newspapers around the country -- has employed an independent ombudsman to serve as a reader representative and critic. But the Post may soon follow in the footsteps of news organizations across the country by eliminating the position when the term of the current ombudsman ends this month. Washington Post ombudsman Patrick Pexton joins us in studio to explore the role of his position in the modern media landscape and the challenges facing newspapers in today's economic environment.
Guests
Patrick Pexton
Ombudsman, The Washington Post
Comments
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When I was dismayed at the Post coverage of the recent XL Pipeline rally in DC, I bypassed the Letter to the Editor route and sent my observations to the Ombudsman because my objective was to cause a rethinking of the editors, not to make a public statement, of the inadequate coverage of the fact that some 35,000 to 45,000 citizens had traveled to DC and braved a very cold, windy day out of their concern for Climate Change. Even the photography played down the huge turnout and nature of our concern, focusing on trees, not the forest (quirky individual shots that could have been from any ordinary smaller rally). Where was the page one shot of the entire scope of the thousands?
One reason I stopped my print newspaper subscription AND stopped watching the news on TV, is because I got tired of a few people deciding what 5 - 10 items in the world would be considered newsworthy on a particular day. I scour the internet for news beyond the print and talking heads and find that, most of the time, the articles I read are reliable and well- rounded. I take most blogs with a grain of salt. When I suspect breaking news might not be accurate, I continue to look for sources of information until I have the facts. I want to know more than 5 or 10 news items per day (usually repeated the next day), and find the Internet to be an invaluable source of news.