According to Wikipedia, the well-known font of e-knowledge, an Ombudsman is 'an official...who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens.' Now, this is not a bad definition, but the most concise way to put it is that the Ombudsman is the advocate for public interest.
In any good paper, the public interest should be the first interest. However, any newspaper is made by individuals who all have their own interests. And while a properly diverse paper will usually reflect the public interest in their own interests, an Ombudsman acts as an extra check to ensure the public interest is a part.
In practical terms, what this means is that the e-mail address above is the best way to tell your advocate in the paper what you think needs to be heard in the newspaper office. If there's an area of interest you think isn't getting covered enough, say so; of course, if there's a particular story you want told, still send it to uwgpaper@westga.edu, but if you just think the Arts and Entertainment section is a bit light, send it to your friendly ombudsman.
As well, if you think we did a horrible job somewhere, say so. The job of the Ombudsman expressly includes taking complaints right to the editor's desk. Of course, if you think we're doing a great job, say so, too! Try to be specific, though; general compliments are nice, but 'zomg ur papers no good' doesn't help us fix anything.
This is a bit of an experiment, to be sure. However, if it works, the readers of this paper should find themselves reading more of what they love, less of what they hate and feel confident that the West Georgian can continue to deliver accurate and compelling coverage to the growing student body of the University of West Georgia.
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