Saying Goodbye To The Ombudsman

 

This is Patrick Pexton (Sorry if this doesn't show up very well/at all on my blog)

Earlier this morning I read Patrick Pexton's final ombudsman column in The Washington Post.  He has been working there as ombudsman for around two years.

For those who you who don't know, the ombudsman is the  person who works for a newspaper that communicates with the readers and responds to their questions/complaints in a weekly column.

Pexton is leaving The Post because they no longer have the money to keep an ombudsman - so with the leaving of Pexton is the leaving of the ombudsman column at The Post.

Pexton's salary was that of a senior editor - so a good chunk of money a year - but with the rising popularity of the internet and new technologies and the decline of people actually reading newspapers, it is harder to keep funds coming in.

The ombudsman is special to the readers as well.  The ombudsman helps the readers get their voices heard.  They respond to readers' concerns.  They talk about different moral issues from the newspaper's point of view and can explain certain decisions the newspaper has made.

As a side note, that is sort of still on topic: Earlier this year, Patrick Pexton came and talked to the CAP Program that I am in about his position.

Click here to read a short description of Pexton and his ombudsman position.  It also has links to his articles underneath.
Click here to read the some of the reasons why The Post ended their ombudsman column.
Click here to read Pexton's final ombudsman column.

Image Source: Patrick Pexton