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5.1. – What form of mediation is there with the public? Is there an ombudsman?

The title of mediator comes from the Anglo-Saxon term ombudsman. The function originated in Sweden in 1809 and aims to defend citizens in conflicts with public services.

In 1970 the Washington Post created the first press mediator: “a journalist in charge of relations between the newspaper and its readers whose function is to listen to their grievances, write internal notes and publish a column with complete freedom of expression” (AGNES Yves, Les mediateurs de presse en France, Cahiers du journalisme, no 18, spring 2008, Quebec, p. 34)

Europe only learned about the role of mediation in the 1980s.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to formulate a type or accurately describe the role since it covers so many different realities, depending on the editorial organisation or the country. However, the international organisation of press mediators describes someone who “receives and handles complaints from readers, listeners or viewers about relevance or balance in the way the news has been presented. He or she then recommends the most appropriate ways to correct or clarify the piece of journalism.”

Frédérique Béal describes two theoretical models of mediation in Médiateurs de presse ou press ombudsmen. La presse en quête de crédibilité a-t-elle trouvé son Zorro ? (Press mediators or press ombudsmen. Has the press found its saviour in its search for credibility?) Collection Journalisme responsable, International Alliance of Journalists:

• The ‘conciliatory mediator’  whose role is to play the intermediary between editorial and readers in the interest of conciliation

• ‘The regulatory ombudsman’ whose role goes beyond conciliation and who applies sanctions 

The author insists on the fact that most of the time the mediator oscillates between the two poles of conciliator and judge.

France

André Laurens was the first French mediator, a position created by Le Monde newspaper in 1984.

Since then, the function has changed a little but remains precarious.

A club of press mediators was created in 2006 and is currently headed by Marie-Laure Augry. Today it has nine members: France 2, France 3, France-Télévisions, TF1, Radio-france, France Médias Monde, Le Monde, Sud-Ouest, La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest.

Brazil

Only a few Brazilian news media organisations have a mediator, e.g. A Folha, TV cultura.

Switzerland

There are currently 13 mediators in Switzerland, some of them are not associated with specific titles but work in a press group, e.g. Axel Springer, tamemedia, Edipress. They work for the written press, as well as in the private and public audio-visual sector.

Belgium

The idea of a press mediator has never had great success in Belgium. In Flanders, the only written press mediator works for the De Standaard quality daily in which he has a well-received weekly column.

VRT – the Flemish public radio-television station also has a ‘professional ethics manager‘– not a ‘real’ mediator but someone who mainly monitors professional standards of non-journalistic programmes at the station.

In French-speaking Belgium, there had been a mediator at the daily newspaper Le Soir but the post was not renewed and there is now only one French-language mediator – at RTBF, the public TV station which is legally obliged to have one.

However, the task of press mediation for the country as a whole is ensured by two press councils.

Spain

There are few mediators in Spain. As democracy was only recently established, the press has not yet adopted this practise. Most newspapers have preserved the principle of informal mediation which is ensured by an internal individual, in this way observing the tradition of linking the paper to the name of its director (one often speaks of ‘so and so’s’ El Mundo or ‘so and so’s El ABC).

El País was the first to create the position of mediator in 1985, followed by La Vanguardia in 1993, and later Punt Diari / Avui and El Periódico (whose mediator is charged in particular with monitoring gender equality for the publication), La Voz de Galicia, and, latterly, the Spanish national TV channel (TVE), the Catalan TV/Radio station/channel (TV3) and the Andalusian channel (Canal Sur).

Germany

Press mediation is developing in Germany. In 2014 there were 11 mediators for the following titles from the written press: Rhein-Zeitung, Freie Presse Chemnitz, Braunschweiger Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt Volk, Neue Presse Coburg Wendt, Volksstimme Magdeburg, Süderländer Tageblatt, Main-Post Würzburg, Wetzlarer Neue Zeitung.