I want to hear from you, says Gleaner Ombudsman
Published:Thursday | October 4, 2018 | 12:00 AM
Retired High Court judge, Justice Roy Anderson, who serves as The Gleaner's Ombudsman, has indicated that only a few people have so far utilised the avenue made possible for them to have a voice in keeping the publication on its toes since he assumed the role in April.
"The response has not been significant in terms of the people who have written to complain. We have had a total of nine or maybe 10 emails since April," Anderson said.
The ombudsman is empowered to handle public complaints related to editorial content which are unresolved by the newsroom, and to suggest corrective measures, if any, for internal action.
Each decision by the ombudsman will be addressed in association with the management of the newsroom and, where necessary, the Office of the Managing Director.
Anderson said that, except for two complaints received, there really have not been any about articles published by The Gleaner.
"I have received just about one other letter recently and had to reply by asking for additional information, but, apart from those, there has not been much else to do on that front," said Anderson.
He suggested it could be that published articles are all well-written and, therefore, readers would not have cause to complain. The ombudsman also made reference to the usual casual way of dealing with certain matters in Jamaica.
"I don't know if substantial numbers of people have been paying attention to it, or they simply just can't bother, but I think we need to encourage them if they have questions, to write, because I want to hear from them," the retired judge said.
"I do believe that the principle upon which this [position] was founded is absolutely vital at this stage of our history. Transparency and accountability are two foundational principles that all should stand for in this modern age, especially in the media industry."
Complaints can be sent to: ombudsman@gleanerjm.com. You can read the company's Code of Conduct and Professionalism at http//www.jamaica-gleaner.com/editorialpolicy.html.