Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Should the Argus have an Ombudsman?

An interesting debate... The paper that my friend on Lake Herman says is peddling smut has been making news lately, fighting for such things as state employee salaries, lists of buddies that hunt with the governor, Mike Rounds' schedule of his family thankgsiving dinner and when he has his bowel movements... hey, it's on the taxpayer's dime!

And apparently some folks feel that if the Argus is going to be the "voice of the people", there should be some accountability. I are one of these people.

Look, I'm not going to say the AL "Speaks for me" or doesn't. But if it's going to go around parading itself as the "champion of the average citizen," isn't it considered reasonable to be held to some kind of public scrutiny, perhaps, even some third-party examination?

Which gives me the idea... an ombudsman!

Okay, I know what you're going to ask... "What the HELL is an ombudsman?" Well, basically, an ombudsman is a person, independent of the media organization that acts as the "voice of the people". They take suggestions, handle inquiries about procedures, and reports them to the masses. If a privately-held cable channel like ESPN can have an ombudsman, why can't a paper that supposedly represents a larger cross-section o f people?

1 comment:

caheidelberger said...

"third-party examination"? that's us! ;-)