Nearly 400 delegates from 42 countries gathered in Tokyo last fall for the 47th ABU General Assembly. One of the highlights was a session which explored the rapid growth of new media technologies and how Asian-Pacific broadcasters should respond.
Additionally, the ABU will look into the issue of whether broadcasters should appoint an ombudsman and adopt a code of practice to maintain audience trust. Proposing the recommendation, SBS’ Ombudsman and vice president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen, Sally Begbie, noted that ABU developing broadcasters had expressed a wish at both last year’s and this year’s annual meetings to develop a mechanism to manage issues of accuracy and trust.
She encouraged broadcasters to develop codes of practice based on the general principles of accuracy, balance, fairness and equality. A code of practice needed to be accompanied by a proper complaints handling procedure, she said. An internal and impartial ombudsman was the public face of a code.