A former member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation Complaints Committee has been appointed global readers’ editor for the Guardian Media Group.
Elisabeth Ribbans, who spent five years as Guardian managing editor, will oversee reader complaints relating to all Guardian News and Media titles, including the Observer and the Guardian’s US and Australia operations.
Ribbans will join the Guardian in January from the British Copyright Council where she is currently director of public affairs.
She was a member of IPSO’s Complaints Committee from 2014 to 2017. The committee judges complaints relating to potential breaches of the Editors’ Code guidelines delivers adjudications.
The Guardian is not a member of IPSO, choosing instead to regulate itself, with the readers’ editor acting as an internal ombudsman.
Ribbans was Guardian managing editor between 2008 and 2013 and has previously held various roles at the news organisation, including Guardian associate editor and deputy editor of Guardian Weekly.
She said: “The independent readers’ editor model at the Guardian is admired by many around the world, and I am honoured to be taking on this important role at a time when trust and accuracy are more important than ever for news media.”
Ribbans will replace Paul Chadwick, who is returning to his native Australia in January after four years in the role.
She will report directly to GMG owner The Scott Trust, which said this system maintains “independence and impartiality for the Guardian’s internal complaints processes”.
It added that the job includes collecting, considering, investigating, responding to, and where necessary ordering corrections about readers’ comments, concerns and complaints.
Scott Trust chairman Alex Graham said: “Elisabeth Ribbans will bring a huge amount of experience as our new global readers’ editor, both as a journalist and an expert in media standards, and I am delighted she is taking the job.
“I know she will bring real rigour and fairness to this vital role.
“On behalf of the Scott Trust and wider Guardian and Observer staff I would also like to pay tribute to Paul Chadwick, who has carried out the role for four years with such a strong commitment to transparency and high standards.”
Picture: Guardian News and Media
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