Media ombudsmen head calls decision to leave Ontario Press Council ‘short-sighted’
Sun Media’s decision to end its membership with the Ontario Press Council will make it difficult to keep the chain’s newspapers accountable to the public, the head of an international group of media ombudsmen says. The chain wrote a letter to the council this week that said the “politically correct mentality” of the press council is “incompatible” with the company’s future plans. The move is a sign that the often-controversial newspaper chain will focus more on shock value than transparency, Organization of News Ombudsmen executive director Jeffrey Dvorkin says. The press council usually receives between 1,800 and 2,200 complaints from the public a year.