The Ombudsman at Work
Michael Kolber, the Crimson's ombudsman, writes a whole story about how the Crimson made a mistake and then ran a correction. Apparently newspapers do that.
Several forces seem to be driving newspapers toward more accountability and transparency: the New York Times-Jayson Blair scandal, the ombudsman industry, and the growth of Internet media including a phalanx of bloggers and watchdogs focused largely on the foibles of the old media. I have never read those thoughts before. You say these blogger things focus on the "foibles" of the old media?
It would be unfortunate if all this criticism enfeebled newspapers, but there’s a difference between fearlessness and recklessness.
So, so true. There is a difference between fearlessness and recklessness.
It may be premature, though, to say The Crimson does as good a job as it should.
This is verging on ombudsman self-parody.*
Forgive the sarcasm. It's just that, since Kolber's last column, there's been some very problematic stuff in the Crimson, most notably the reporting on Theda Skocpol. Lots of interesting issues there—anonymous sources, "news analysis," different versions online and in print, and so on
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Yet for some reason, Kolber writes his one-time-a-month column about corrections even though he admits that the Crimson promptly corrected the story in question and in general is pretty good about running corrections.
It may be premature, though, to say The Crimson does as good a job as it should.
A few weeks ago, Kolber's editor, Kristina Moore, said she would encourage him "to draw some stronger conclusions." Keep encouraging, Kristina.
And then Kolber becomes approximately the 100 millionth media commentator to say something not very interesting about Jayson Blair.
Let me put it this way: Do you think that even one person at the Crimson was made uncomfortable by this column?
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* Speaking of ombudsman self-parody, I just noticed that Kolber's column is titled "On Corrections." Hilarious—just the right blend of earnestness and self-importance. Reminds me that back when I was a plebe at the New Republic, the magazine had a "most boring headline" contest. The winner? Flora Lewis' column titled "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative."
