05. Dialogue and communication with stakeholders Annual Report 2013 93 The role of the Readers’ Editor The Readers’ Editor is responsible for dealing with reader complaints, concerns and suggestions regarding the content of the newspaper. The Readers’ Editor monitors and acts as guarantor of compliance with ethical rules, the rules of conduct and professional procedures as set out in the Style Book and acts accordingly in cases of non-compliance. The Readers’ Editor also acts as mediator between readers and the newsroom. Thus, while the articles published by the Readers’ Editor in the newspaper or online are public expressions of this role, equally important is the private correspondence with readers channeling a response from a particular journalist on the issue in question. Few other Spanish papers are endowed with an internal ombudsman such as the Readers’ Editor. The mere existence of this figure is a guarantee for readers and a clear statement of our intention to provide accurate, quality news and information. Errors are inevitable. The obligation and duty of a newspaper such as El País is to publicly recognise them with due diligence. The Readers’ Editor acts independently and free from editorial interference. Participation The subjects of complaints are varied but two general areas stand out: on the one hand, there are complaints about careless use of language and grammatical mistakes and errors, and, on the other hand, there are complaints regarding the moderation of the newspaper’s forums. Readers also complain about issues of sensitivity, for example, unpleasant or unnecessarily explicit images from wars, accidents or natural disasters. We often receive complaints from readers who feel that a headline fails to match the content of a report, or has bordered on the sensationalist. Breaches of the often fine line between opinion and news, and insufficient or the lack of coverage of certain issues -which the reader views as important- is another frequent complaint. With regards to the issues addressed, responses that are made public are distributed between the blog and the print edition depending on the urgency or the nature of the issue raised.The print edition tends to deal with issues of a more general, professional nature, although there is also space for dealing with concrete incidents. The nature of the digital, edition, with its own content, means that the Readers’ Editor does not always respond to incidents with an article but instead passes the reader’s alert on to the newsroom to be appropriately addressed. Although new Internet tools have fostered a culture of participation, which can be very rewarding, the challenge is now not so much facilitating access for readers to voice their opinion, but to find mechanisms that enable quality participation.
PRISA Annual Report 2013
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