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Friday, June 24, 2005
GLOBE NAMES
OMBUDSMAN. Boston Globe publisher Richard Gilman has
appointed Richard Chacón to the ombudsman's post, replacing
Chris Chinlund. Here's the e-mail Gilman sent out to the staff
yesterday:
June 23,
2005
To The
Staff:
I'm pleased to
announce that Richard Chacon will assume new duties as ombudsman
beginning on Monday morning, June 27. Richard replaces Christine
Chinlund who, after three years of gracefully dealing with the
sometimes unhappy reader and weighing in on matters of importance
to the newspaper, has moved on to become the new editor of Globe
South. I want to thank Chris for all she has done and for all of
her incredible diplomacy in juggling the competing points of view
that so often end up in the ombudsman's office. The newspaper is
better for her efforts.
In his new role,
Richard will report directly to me. This is meant to reinforce his
role as a neutral observer while at the same time affirming the
independence of the newsroom where, as always, our editors make
the final call on content issues. Like Chris, Richard will write a
column every other week for the op-ed page and will also establish
an online ombudsman's page.
Although reader
issues will continue to be the main focus of his job, Richard will
also try to put his own stamp on the position by reaching out to
the community in the broadest sense and creating a dialogue aimed
at promoting a better understanding of our business and our role
in Greater Boston.
He's a great
choice for the job. His newsroom credentials are impeccable, his
recent Nieman experience has given him the time to think about
some of the larger issues facing journalism today, and his time as
deputy foreign editor and foreign correspondent gives him a world
perspective that will be of value in his new role.
I hope you will
join with me in wishing Richard the best in his important new
role.
Richard
Chacón
should be given a chance, of course. Structurally, though, this
appointment is problematic, because Chacón is part of the
Globe family, and - from what I hear - wants to stay after his
ombudsman stint is over. That's been a problem with most of the paper's ombudsmen; some have handled it better than others.
The Globe's
corporate sibling, the New York Times, has embraced a better
model during the brief period that it's had an ombudsman - or "public
editor," as the Times prefers to call him: an outsider who's
given a contract for a limited period.
The first
Times public editor, Dan Okrent, was fiercely independent. The
new guy, Byron Calame, has just started. His first
real column was actually a
defense of the Times, which may set off some alarms, although
his defense was warranted, in my view.
Being an in-house
critic of folks as touchy as journalists must be as pleasant as
having your teeth pulled without Novocaine. It's a position that
would benefit from maximum independence.
posted at 8:42 AM |
4 comments
|
link
4 Comments:
One long, deep, and profound sigh.
Cudda picked a nicer guy!
Feircely independent? Cf. his comment on Krugman after he quit.
Okrent was an apologist.
who is cudda?
MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
