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The Newspaper Ombudsman and Consumer Complaints: An Empirical Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

John A. Hannigan
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Abstract

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This paper reports the results of a survey of 282 clients of Sound Off, a Canadian newspaper ombudsman. The data suggest that the newspaper ombudsman works best as a communication “facilitator” but is less effective as a dispute “mediator.” Furthermore, this service was found to be of least benefit to the socially advantaged who appear to use it to pursue more difficult problems. Nevertheless, 73 percent of the respondents indicated that they would use this “action line” service again if the need arose.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , Spring 1977 , pp. 679 - 699
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, in New York on August 30, 1976. I would like to acknowledge the helpful comments of the editor, Richard Abel, and of two reviewers, Michael Mattice and Frank Palen. In addition, I am grateful to Benjamin Singer, who encouraged the undertaking of this project, and to Ruth Hannigan for computational and typing assistance.

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