Dear Washington Post:
I would like to apply for the position of Washington Post ombudsman.
I understand that a key component of the job is to never respond to readers, unlike that lesser mortal, the readers' rep. I promise that, if selected, I shall refrain from responding to readers. Ever.
I will also never hold you accountable for anything, except for signing my paycheck.
New Washington Post reader representative explains why he won’t be the paper’s ombudQuote:
by Craig Silverman Published Apr. 23, 2013 6:50 am Updated Apr. 23, 2013 11:53 am
Doug Feaver has no illusions about his new job.
“My primary mission is to respond to readers,” says the Washington Post’s new reader representative.
In other words, he is not an ombudsman.
“This is different — I’m not [charged with] holding the newsroom accountable,” he said in a recent phone interview, adding that “if there were some very difficult subjects that come up, or some obvious matter, I would try to explain how it happened and do the reporting with who is involved, but I wouldn’t be doing what the previous ombudsman was doing.”
[
Poynter]