What does a readers' editor or ombudsman do?

Investigates complaints about a publication's own journalism and reports on them publicly and independently of the editor — an internal accountability role that is voluntary, uncommon, and has been disappearing.

The distinguishing feature. An ordinary complaints process is handled by the people who published the work. A readers' editor is appointed with guaranteed independence: a contract that cannot be terminated at the editor's discretion, the right to publish findings without approval, and access to whoever they need inside the organisation.

Without that independence it is a customer service function rather than an accountability one.

What the role involves:

Investigating complaints about accuracy, fairness and conduct.

Ordering corrections where a complaint is upheld, and publishing an explanation of what went wrong.

Writing publicly about the reasoning behind editorial decisions — why a story was covered a particular way, why a term is used, why something was not reported. This is frequently the most valuable output, because it explains journalism to readers who otherwise see only the result.

Raising systemic issues internally where a pattern appears.

Why it matters. It is a rare mechanism by which a publication subjects itself to scrutiny it does not control the outcome of, and it treats readers as participants rather than as an audience. Where it works, it is a stronger corrective than external regulation, because it operates continuously and on matters too small for a formal complaint.

Why the roles have declined. Cost is the stated reason; a number of major outlets internationally have abolished the position in the past decade. Critics have also argued the role can function as a lightning rod — absorbing criticism without changing practice — and that social media now performs the scrutiny function informally.

The counter-argument is that social media criticism is unstructured, reaches no conclusion, and produces no correction, so removing the formal role removed accountability rather than replacing it.

What exists alongside: external regulators, editorial standards or complaints units within broadcasters, and published editorial guidelines that readers can hold a publication to.