News Ombudsmen in North America: Assessing an Experiment in Social Responsibility

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

This book offers the most comprehensive look to date at the effort of about forty U.S. media organizations to make themselves more accountable. Nemeth provides a critical assessment of the ombudsmen's work from the ombudsmen themselves, their editors, media critics, and scholars.

Reviews

A former reporter, Nemeth covers a neglected topic with this timely book. He uses case studies, surveys, and interviews to explore how and why ombudsmen work to provide accountability in news organizations.... Discussing specific incidents and how ombudsmen handled them, the book covers important concepts--including newspapers' historical resistance to hiring ombudsmen, a situation even more problematic in today's corporate environment. Virtually the only work of its type, this book should be in every academic library and required reading for editors and publishers. Those interested in the topic should also visit Organization of News Ombudsmen (http: //www.newsombudsmen.org). Essential. All academic and professional collections.-Choice
Nemeth's book delivers exactly what its title promises--a careful empirical assessment of the social responsibility functions played by news ombudsmen.-Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
News Ombudsmen describes the theoretical foundation of newspapers' decisions to establish ombudsmen, and it explains organizational accountability and social responsibility of the press. It delves into the history of both as well as the arguments made by scholars who have challenged their validity. In an attempt to reconcile the two concepts, Nemeth suggests that the notion of social responsibility of the press as a cornerstone of democracy is outmoded in a corporate context.-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
"Nemeth's book delivers exactly what its title promises--a careful empirical assessment of the social responsibility functions played by news ombudsmen."-Journalism & Mass Communication Educator
"News Ombudsmen describes the theoretical foundation of newspapers' decisions to establish ombudsmen, and it explains organizational accountability and social responsibility of the press. It delves into the history of both as well as the arguments made by scholars who have challenged their validity. In an attempt to reconcile the two concepts, Nemeth suggests that the notion of social responsibility of the press as a cornerstone of democracy is outmoded in a corporate context."-Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
"A former reporter, Nemeth covers a neglected topic with this timely book. He uses case studies, surveys, and interviews to explore how and why ombudsmen work to provide accountability in news organizations.... Discussing specific incidents and how ombudsmen handled them, the book covers important concepts--including newspapers' historical resistance to hiring ombudsmen, a situation even more problematic in today's corporate environment. Virtually the only work of its type, this book should be in every academic library and required reading for editors and publishers. Those interested in the topic should also visit Organization of News Ombudsmen (http: //www.newsombudsmen.org). Essential. All academic and professional collections."-Choice

Author Bio

NEIL NEMETH is Assistant Professor of Communication, Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, Indiana.