Ian Mayes has one of my heroes for the last nine years. Back in 1997, he became the first readers' editor (ombudsman) on a British national newspaper. The appointment reflected great credit on The Guardian, which recognised that it didn't always get things right and had a duty to set the record straight when it got it wrong.
In his column today, Mayes reflects on his experience. He will hand over to a successor, yet to be appointed, in the new year. His weekly Open Door columns are essential reading for anyone who wants to understand better how a great newspaper goes about its business. He has explained the Guardian's policy on publishing expletives (admitting that many journalists ignore it); the coverage of the Paddington rail disaster; the reporting of mental health; and the difficulty of achieving balance when reporting the Middle East.
On a lighter note, Mayes has fought a one-man campaign to get Guardian writers to spell correctly the names of Lucian Freud and Johns Hopkins university. He'd be the first to admit that while Freud's name appears correctly most of the time, the old Grauniad still lives on whenever the American university appears in its pages.
He gave a great talk to City students this afternoon...
Posted by: Adrian Monck | November 06, 2006 at 10:35 PM