Arthur Brisbane Misses the Point

The New York Times has a new omsbudsman, Arthur Brisbane. In his piece today, he argues:

"This [a new integration of web and print operations] suggests to me a companion move The Times should make, one that would help secure a tighter bond with its audience: publishing The Times’s journalism policies in a searchable format and in a visible location on NYTimes.com. That would enable readers to see more clearly into the news operation."

Brisbane points out Times' policies are scattered in different places and are hard for the reader to find. It's all very well, but I believe he misses the main point. I, as a reader of the Times, both print and web, could give a damn about their policies. I care  more about the results.  Indeed, it's the reporters and editors of the Times who need to know and follow the policies; it's the people newly recruited to be reporters and editors of the Times who need to be trained in the policies and know where they can find them; it's the managing editors of the Times who need to see the policies in one place so they can direct the newspaper and web site to follow the policies; so finally it is the people of the Times who need to have the policies consolidated and easy to find.

I'd argue much the same is true for any bureaucracy: you can't serve your clients and customers effectively if you don't know what you're doing; clarity, like charity, begins at home.  The nice thing is once you have clarity at home you can be clear to others.