The man who keeps The Washington Post on its toes — an outsider from within — spoke to SPJ’s D.C. Pro chapter at McClatchy’s Washington bureau on May 4.
Andy Alexander still was relatively new to the ombudsman job, but offered plenty of insight.
In one of his weekly columns, he revealed that the Post’s policy for responding to requests for correction was so faulty, some requests languished for years without anyone from the newspaper addressing them.
The column made waves and brought about changes even before it was published.
Alexander, who worked for many years for Cox Newspapers in its Washington bureau, said another issue he’s trying to tackle is making the Post more transparent. He wants the newspaper to post its ethics policy online, as other major news organizations do.
"That’s a battle I have not won yet," he told the audience of about 30 people from the D.C. Pro chapter and from the Washington, D.C., chapter of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, which co-sponsored the event.
Alexander said he gets about 220 to 230 e-mails a day, of which about 20 to 30 are substantive. He has an assistant who helps him.
Otherwise, he’s removed from the operations of the newspaper; his job is to observe and be a watchdog. "It’s an amazingly lonely job," he said.
Alexander said his contract as the Post’s ombudsman is one page and gives him strong autonomy. "It basically makes it almost impossible for them to fire me," he said.
Alexander stayed late to answer many questions, expanding on topics such as the responsiveness of editors, the effects of having fewer copy editors and how upset readers get when a comic strip is cut.