OTTAWA – Jack Nagler, currently CBC’s senior director of journalism (public accountability and engagement), has been appointed as the public broadcaster’s new English Services ombudsperson.
Current CBC ombudsperson Esther Enkin, who has held the role since 2012, will stay on until her retirement at the end of December.
Completely independent of program staff, the ombudsperson reports directly to the Corp’s board of directors through the president and CEO, and handles complaints from members of the public who are not satisfied with the response they receive from the news department. CBC has two: one for English Services and one for French Services, who may be reached through their respective websites.
“As a public broadcaster we have an enormous role to play in the area of trustworthy news. Canadians need to know that they can trust the news and information from CBC/Radio-Canada, and the ombudsperson is an essential part of that,” said CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait, in the announcement. “Our ombudsperson helps demonstrate the importance that we place on ensuring accuracy, integrity, balance, impartiality and fairness in our journalism. Jack’s experience and deep commitment to journalistic ethics make him the perfect person to uphold our commitment to being transparent and accountable to Canadians.”
Nagler joined CBC News in 1990 and was most recently responsible for co-authoring CBC/Radio-Canada’s newest Journalistic Standards and Practices, as well as measuring and assessing the fairness and balance of CBC's coverage.
“I look forward to being a point of contact between Canadians and the public broadcaster”, Nagler added. “In this role I will be an advocate for the public, and for the craft of journalism itself. By casting an impartial eye on CBC's coverage, I can help safeguard Canadians' trust in CBC/Radio-Canada, and help the corporation embody the values of integrity and accountability so critical to its mission.”
