News sources hate the ombudsman. Readers hate the ombudsman. I couldn't take it. But The Post had had an ombudsman for 22 years by the time I showed up. The staff had come to understand the role, and to expect their work to be evaluated by someone they do not answer to.
Editors are more likely to welcome, or see the value in, an ombudsman's critique.
But just about everyone at The Post is cordial and everybody cooperates in giving me information. I try not to interrupt people on deadline but they routinely drop everything to give me information or explain their thinking. Now this is the hard part, but I don't think an ombudsman should get very friendly with people in the newsroom anyway. I cannot become close to anyone in the newsroom, because I may need to find fault with that person's work. A reporter cannot get too close to the mayor, because the reporter may not see flaws in the mayor's performance that readers need to know about.