Public Editors Disappear as Media Distrust Grows

Shortly after the New York Times eliminated its public editor position, BuzzFeed asked: Why have a public editor when Twitter will do it for free?

In an attempt to answer the question, BuzzFeed Editor in Chief Ben Smith talked to Margaret Sullivan, a former New York Times public editor who is now a media critic at The Washington Post. (The Post got rid of its ombudsman in 2013.) Although Sullivan told Smith that it’s “worrisome” for the Times not to have a public editor, she questioned whether most readers even understood what she did.

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