Every story starts with you. You may well have seen this phrase lately on billboards or the side of buses, as part of a promotional campaign for the P&J.
It is not some empty slogan plucked from the air by marketing executives, just our plain and simple way of summing up how we work.
Nothing gets researched, written or published until one key question has first been answered: who are we doing this for?
If there is not a section of the communities we serve for whom the content will be interesting, helpful or entertaining (and ideally all three) we will not pursue it.
That has been our mission for 275 years and remains at the heart of everything that we publish, whether online or in print.
Our mission, our passion
Our staff come to work each day with one thing in mind: digging out the most important and useful information and getting it in front of everyone who wants or needs to know it, quickly, thoroughly and accurately.
It is what they have trained hard for years to do and is something of a passion.
We put enormous thought and care too into all of our decisions, carefully weighing the impact of our stories, and operating at all times within the strict codes of conduct set out for us by the independent press regulator, Ipso.
When things do go wrong, we never shy away from admitting it and making amends.
So much more to do
But it is not enough that we simply tell you this is the case. We know there are all too many people who remain sceptical about such assurances, who understandably distrust the methods and motives of “the media” in the wake of dreadful episodes like the tabloid phone-hacking scandal.
That kind of behaviour is not and has never been part of our culture – but we know that we have to do better at demonstrating that in order to move out of its long shadow.
So as part of redoubling our efforts to do that, I am delighted to have been asked to become the P&J’s first Readers’ Ombudsman.
What does the ombudsman do?
My role will be to listen carefully to what it is you want to know about how we work, why we make the choices we do – and then to pull back the curtain and show you the answers.
It is about who we are too – and you can click on the names of journalists at the top of stories to find out a little more about them and what they have been writing about.
You can click here to see my profile page to give you an idea.
As one of the senior editorial staff, I am closely involved in both day-to-day operations and helping set the wider culture, and I will be your guide to better understanding both.
My fortnightly blog examines the aspects of our practices and ethics that you the readers let us know you are most concerned about.
It tries to answer common questions such as “why should we pay to read the news?”, “are you politically biased?” “why do you publish photographs of car crashes?”. You can find links to them at the bottom of this page.
I am also responsible for maintaining this log of the corrections we make to online stories – something we think is a very important part of being transparent.
Consistent standards
Please do not hold back. Make us think, force us to put everything we believe under the spotlight and defend it – who knows perhaps change it if we find it wanting.
Send your questions and observations to the dedicated email address: readersombudsman@pressandjournal.co.uk
I will reply to as many queries as I can in person or through the blog.
It is a conversation I am very much looking forward to having with you all.
We push hard on your behalf for openness, honesty and full transparency from everyone we write about, not least those in positions of power.
It is only right that we should expect the same of ourselves – and, what’s more, we know our journalism will end up all the better for it.
