In what is officially being called a “new step in media transparency,” the role of ESPN ombudsman will be filled by The Poynter Institute.
A panel from The Poynter Institute will serve an eighteen-month tenure as ESPN ombudsmen beginning in March, it was announced Thursday.
The panel, made up of Poynter faculty, will review and comment on ESPN content. As with previous ESPN ombudsman, the panel will post monthly articles on ESPN.com.
Previously, the role of ESPN ombudsman was filled by a single individual, the latest being former network TV executive Don Ohlmeyer.
ESPN appears to have high hopes for the new arrangement. ESPN EVP and executive editor John Walsh in a press release: “We believe The Review will take the traditional ombudsman role and advance it for the 21st century media world.”
