Press ombudsman warns that online interactivity needs careful moderation

PRESS Ombudsman Professor John Horgan says he expects more integration between print and web editions of newspapers over the coming years.

Prof Horgan told Dublin City University’s Journalism Society that although he expects newspapers will survive, they will look different in five years time.

More information: Press Ombudsman website.

Watch the speech in full.

He said: “They won’t have so many pages because it’s all very expensive, and they will have bigger web presences.” He warned however that interaction from the public needs to be carefully moderated, as publishers are as liable for defamation on their website as they are in their print edition.

“The Guardian has a superb website, and they have four senior, highly-experienced journalists doing nothing else but moderating the user-generated content on its website. There are all sorts of moderating problems that newspapers will have to take on board as well as sorting out its business model,” he added.

Prof Horgan also criticised the Privacy Bill, in particular section 13(1) which allows a judge to stop the reporting of an entire case. This includes cases where an injunction has been granted to prevent a newspaper from invading privacy.

“It’s something that the newspapers are particularly anxious about, not least because they fear that it will be used by the rich and powerful to prevent investigative reporting of a certain kind. Whether this will be effective in the age of Twitter, I just don’t know,” He said.

Prof Horgan said that financial problems put pressure on newspapers to cut corners and lay off staff. He added that this affects quality control by newspapers, and that it would affect newspapers’ ability to swing into action when there are many stories which need to be covered.