Parliament weighs renaming journalist ethics inspector as media ombudsman
Thursday 8th October 2026 on 15:01 in
Lithuania
Lithuania’s parliament is considering renaming the journalist ethics inspector as the media ombudsman, LRT reported.
Lawmakers backed the proposed amendments to the Law on Public Information and other legislation at the initial presentation stage, with 62 voting in favour, two against and four abstaining. The proposals, initiated by members of the parliament’s Culture Committee, will be reviewed by the Culture and Human Rights committees. They are due back in the plenary chamber on December 10.
Presenting the proposals on Thursday, Culture Committee member Kęstutis Vilkauskas said the new title would better reflect the institution’s work and responsibilities. The initiative’s supporters say the current name has become outdated and can cause confusion about the institution’s remit.
“The name media ombudsman would more clearly reflect the institution’s purpose and help people understand what issues they can bring to it,” Vilkauskas said. He added that people often confuse the office with the Public Information Ethics Commission, which assesses matters concerning journalistic ethics.
Vytautas Juozapaitis, deputy chair of the Culture Committee, questioned whether adopting the term ombudsman would benefit the Lithuanian language, and asked whether the change was necessary and how much it would cost.
The title media ombudsman has a history in Northern European countries, and an international association of media ombudsmen operates at the international level, the report said.
The journalist ethics inspector post was established in 1996 under the first version of the Law on Public Information. The inspector is an independent state official who handles public complaints about breaches of honour and dignity or privacy by media outlets, and oversees compliance with public information principles and human rights protections.
Parliament appoints the inspector for a five-year term from candidates nominated by organisations representing public information producers, distributors and journalists. The inspector’s office began operating in 2006. Last June, parliament appointed former Lithuanian Journalists’ Union chair Dainius Radzevičius to the post.