Ian Mayes is a British journalist and editor. He was the first "readers' editor" – a title he invented for the newspaper ombudsman role — of The Guardian, from November 1997 to March 2007, and was president of the international Organization of News Ombudsmen from May 2005 to May 2007, serving as a board member since May 2002 after joining in April 2001. Background Ian Mayes' career as a journalist spans six decades and includes many years as features editor of the Northampton Chronicle and Echo, before he joined BBC Radio News in Broadcasting House (1979–87), then became assistant features editor of the short-lived London Daily News. Mayes began writing for The Guardian as a freelance in 1962, his first piece being a story on the features page (then edited by Brian Redhead) about the return of Laurie Lee to the village of Slad in Gloucestershire, where Cider with Rosie was set. It was towards the end of 1988 that Mayes joined the staff of the newspaper; his first ten years included launching The Guardian Weekend magazine and the daily G2 section with former editor Alan Rusbridger, and time served as deputy features editor, arts editor and obituaries editor. From November 1997 to March 2007, Mayes was The Guardian′s Readers' Editor – a title he invented for the newspaper ombudsman role to suggest a bridge between readers and journalists — the first such appointment of a resident independent ombudsman in the UK. Other British newspapers, including The Observer, The Independent on Sunday and the Daily Mirror, quickly followed suit in appointing readers' editors, although Mayes was the only one to do the job full-time. The Guardian system was also closely replicated on newspapers such as Politiken in Denmark and The Hindu in India. Through an influential weekly column called "Open Door", Mayes dealt with corrections and clarifications (14,000 in his decade in the post), as well as conducting a debate on the ethics of journalism. Selections from the columns were collected in four books: Corrections and Clarifications (2000), Corrections and Clarifications 2002 (2002), Only Correct: The Best of Corrections and Clarifications (2005) and Journalism Right and Wrong: Ethical and Other Issues Raised by Readers in the Guardian's Open Door Column. A translated selection of the columns was produced by Moscow State University under the title Rabota nad oshibkami (Work on mistakes). He was president of the international Organization of News