Freedom of information for journalists

David OttewellHead of Data JournalismTrinity Mirror@davidottewell

History of the act

Labour policy pledge ahead of the 1997 electionCame into force in 2005Brought the UK into line with other countriesMore than 90 nations have Freedom of Information lawsThese countries include Zimbabwe and ChinaFoI Act itself only part of a package of measures

History of the act

“Labour is committed to the democratic renewal of our country through decentralisation and the elimination of excessive government secrecy. We are pledged to a Freedom of Information Act, leading to more open government.”

Tony Blair, 1997

History of the act

“Freedom of information. Three harmless words. I look at the words as I write them and feel like shaking my head until it drops off my shoulders. You idiot. You naive, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop.”

Tony Blair, 2010

The future

A post-legislative scrutiny report in 2012 found that the Freedom of Information Act was a ‘significant enhancement of our democracy’. Criticism of public bodies, including unfair or partial criticism, was ‘a price well worth paying for the benefits that greater openness brings’.

The future

Despite this, the government set up a commission to look at the Freedom of Information Act anew. The changes they are looking at include introducing charges for certain requests, and allowing cabinet ministers to have a veto on the publication of sensitive information. David Davis has called the review a ‘stitch-up’. Members of the commission include Jack Straw, who has called FoI a mistake, and Michael Howard.

Freedom of information in action

Freedom of information in action

Freedom of information in action

Freedom of information in action

Freedom of information in action

Freedom of information in action

The basics

The act is purpose-blind and applicant blindThe act is free (but they can charge over the cost limit)Covers all public bodiesCovers ‘semi-public’ bodies, e.g. Channel 4Covers e.g. dentists insofar as they do NHS workFoI officers have a legal duty to assist youCost limit: 24 hours’ work (central), 18 hours’ work (other)

The basics

Be aware of the scope of the actIt covers government departments, police, councils, health bodies and universities but there are also a huge number of other organisations and quangosThese include, inter alia, The Royal Mint, The Tate Gallery, The Civil Aviation Authority, The Bank of England, The Advisory Committee on Historic Wreck Sites…

The basics

Requests should:Be in writing (email or letter)Be in your real nameInclude a contact addressSpecify the format in which you want the data

The basics

An authority has 20 working days to respondThey can say they need to run a public-interest testThis has no specific deadlineIf request refused you must first ask for an internal reviewThis has no specific deadlineOnly then can you appeal to the Information CommissionerGuess what? This has no specific deadline

Exemptions

There are EIGHT absolute exemptionsThese do not require a public-interest testObtainable by other means (s21)Personal information; for self, use DPA (s40)Information provided in confidence (s41)Bodies dealing with security matters (s23)

Exemptions

There are FIFTEEN qualified exemptionsThese require a public-interest testPrevention or detection of crime (s31)Formulation of government policy (s35)Effective conduct of public affairs (s36)Commercial interests of a third party (s43)Material intended for future publication (s22)

Tip 1 - be ridiculously precise

Define vague terms and leave nothing to interpretationSpecify an exact timescale

Tip 1 - be ridiculously precise

Tip 1 - be ridiculously precise

Tip 1 - be ridiculously precise

Tip 2 - give an ideal answer format

Including a ‘dummy answer’ will help you get exactly what you want and compare across authorities

Tip 3 - consider ‘staging’ requests

Save time by giving a maximal and minimal version - but always be clear you want as much information as possible

Tip 3 - consider ‘staging’ requests

Tip 4 - work with the exemptions

You won’t get the names and full addresses of people who called the fire brigade; you might get the town or city, or even the streetYou won’t get the names of police officers suspended for alleged racism; you might get their rank, division, and sex

Tip 4 - work with the exemptions

Tip 5 - know what you are looking for

Do councils record ‘pub closures’? No. Do they record change of planning use? YesWhich meetings have taken place and are likely to be minuted?Are emails stored by an organisation? For how long?

Tip 5 - know what you are looking for

Tip 6 - if it’s data, ask for a spreadsheet

Tip 6 - if it’s data, ask for a spreadsheet

Tip 7 - the FoI officer is not the enemy

They have a legal obligation to help youBut they are only human!Most take their responsibility to help seriouslyThey have legitimate frustrations about the way journalists phrase their FoI requestsTreat them like a human being - like any other contact - and they are likely to be much more helpful

Tip 8 - don’t be lazy

Check whether the information is available without FoIYou might get even more than you were planning forKnowing what is out there will help you phrase a requestGood data sourcing skills are increasingly vital

Tip 9 - be creative

Try to think of genuinely original FoI requests; some are becoming cliched (the least borrowed library book)Consider asking for memos, minutes, reports, correspondence and documents as well as just numbers

Tip 9 - be creative

Tip 9 - be creative

Tip 9 - be creative

Tip 9 - be creative

Tip 10 - FoI is often just another source

It doesn’t make you an investigative geniusDon’t imply the information was being kept from the public deliberately if it wasn’tAvoid ‘revealed under freedom of information act’ intros -they have long since become cliched

Tip 11 - FoI can be just the start

Getting material from freedom of information laws doesn’t exempt you from the hard journalistic yardsYou need context and analysisMany issues only come alive with case studies, expert commentary and other ‘human interest’ basics

Tip 11 - FoI can be just the start

Tip 11 - FoI can be just the start

Tip 12 - Think big

Freedom of information requests don’t have to just be about the next day’s headlinesYou can also gather sufficient data for projects and specials

Tip 12 - think big

Tip 12 - think big