Re-imagining journalism-2

In this 400 th column, I continue our cumulative efforts to re-imagine journalism. This also marks the 40 th anniversary of the Company of News Ombudsmen and Standards Editors (ONO). The organisation, which was born in the U.S. in 1980, deliberately select the acronym ONO to mark the challenging relationship between an ombudsman and the newsroom. According to the main history of ONO, “It was stated at the time that ‘Oh No!’ was the most typical thing an ombudsman would speak with anxious or upset press reporters whenever the ombudsman was seen on the newsroom flooring, as their look frequently declared a difficult conversation about poor decisions or straight-out mistakes. The opportunity to call the company itself ‘Oh No!’ was merely too good to miss.”

Reflections on journalism

There have been lots of reflections on journalism over the last 3 centuries. From Benjamin Franklin’s declaration on journalistic principles (discovered in his autobiography published in 1791) and Mahatma Gandhi’s reflection on running Indian Viewpoint (1904-1915) to the findings of various commissions, there is an abundant oeuvre of literature about what makes journalism a public great. India had two press commissions– the First Press Commission (1952-54) and the Second Press Commission (1978-1982)– to define the shapes of the Indian press.

The very first commission to come