The Hindu Business Line : Man with the whistle

The Ipswich murders grabbed headlines, with the world media reporting on the killing of five prostitutes in the UK. But, did the extensive coverage on the serial killings lose sight of the prostitutes as vulnerable women who were victims of a crime? Should they have been called sex-workers or working girls instead of prostitutes?

Exploring the ethical contours of news coverage is all in a day's work for The Guardian's Readers' Editor, Ian Mayes, who listens to what readers have to say on the coverage in the newspaper. He identifies mistakes and corrects them, all the while keeping the process simple, he says explaining his task of making journalists accountable for what they write.

Through his assessment of coverage in the paper, he opens up issues for further debate among readers and reporters too, as seen recently in the Ipswich murder coverage and later in the high-decibel coverage of Saddam's execution.

Unknown territory

But the picture of Saddam's execution, possibly taken on a camera-phone, seems to herald the unfamiliar terrain that news gathering has ventured into. The picture, taken from an Arab Web site, was carried across the width of the paper's front page on New Year's Day.

As he is the interface between the reader and the newspaper, it was not surprising that his inbox was flooded with over 200 emails from readers in almost unanimous condemnation of the coverage of Saddam's execution. He responded to them, explaining why the strong picture needed to be carried, besides guiding them to Editor Alan Rusbridger's reasons for running the picture. He cautions that editors will have to anticipate the impact of a picture and evaluate the reasons for using it. And the reasons should be strong enough to prevail over anticipated reactions, he tells decision-makers in newspapers, who have the crucial task of weighing the news-value of a picture, against the sensibilities of its audience.

Some of the other instances of overwhelming reader response followed the attacks on the World Trade Centre and other targets in the US in September 2001. About 600 letters to the editor were received in a day, a tally only exceeded by the coverage of the first Gulf War when about 900 letters were received, he says in one of his columns.

Core values

So does he think the ethical limits of news will be strained, as news delivery takes a dramatic leap from the conventional newspaper, 24-hour news channels and online papers to camera-phone images, blogs and you-tube? As newspersons jostle with laypersons taking on the journalist's role to capture reader and viewer interest, will quality be sacrificed?

The core values of newsgathering are not under any threat, says an optimistic Mayes, a journalist for 50 years and Readers' Editor with The Guardian for 10 years. And while there is evidence of news getting dumbed down, he thinks it would be wrong to generalise. The methodical, central core of newsgathering will remain essential to all communities. And the role of newsgathering will become more important, rather than diminish in the future, he observes, seated in his glass cubicle at the "heart of the paper".

Mayes hands over charge as Readers' Editor or the internal ombudsman of The Guardian this March. And taking over the reins from him will be Siobhain Butterworth, at present the newspaper's Legal Director. He will continue as president of the Organisation of News Ombudsmen until the annual conference at Harvard University in May this year.

Quick and impartial

Asserting the importance of having a Readers' Editor, he says it has brought down defamation cases by about 30 per cent. He advocates that newspapers have a Readers' Editor, but for the right reasons of addressing reader concerns and dealing with issues quickly and impartially.

There have been times when the newspaper has been charged of being anti-Semitic while covering the Israel-Palestinian conflict, indicating the high-profile tightrope that the Readers' Editor has to walk. Despite the tough act, Mayes travels extensively to canvas for instituting a Readers' Editor in countries like the erstwhile Soviet Union, East Europe and Latin America.

Having published a couple of books on commonly made errors in journalism, he points out that accuracy is one of the biggest casualties in reporting. Wrong attributions and names spelt incorrectly are some of the other errors that creep up often in news stories. And though this may seem trivial to young journalists, it is very important, he asserts.

While the Readers' Editor should not get involved with pre-publication issues, Mayes encourages reporters to participate in the system by discussing the concerns raised by readers. He does not compare the paper's coverage with its competitors and also finds it irrelevant to mention the reporter's name while discussing an issue in his `Open Door' column.

So is the Readers' Editor a sort of "big brother" in the newspaper? Not in the Orwellian sense of the term, he quips. But, it certainly feels like "a man with the whistle trying to referee a very rough game", he confesses in his second book on corrections and clarifications.

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