Delays in FOI process are barrier to use by journalists, says report

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Dwindling newsroom resources combined with delays in obtaining information is limiting the number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by journalists, a new report has suggested.

According to documentary evidence for the paper 'A Shock to the System: Journalism, Government & the Freedom of Information Act 2000', published last week by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University written by Jeremy Hayes, the number of journalists habitually using FOI remains small.

"What is apparent is that journalists who have the opportunity to pursue investigations of this type tend either to be special reporters with a licence from their editors to carry out in-depth investigation, or determined freelancers for whom the investigation is almost a matter of personal importance," said the study, which looked at the use of the Freedom of Information Act in Britain by journalists over the last four years.

In addition, it found that as the public's awareness and use of FOI by campaign groups has increased, there is the potential for resource-strapped newrooms to make use of material obtained by third parties.

The rewards of using the FOIA by journalists have been further 'diminished' by the potential for lengthy delays in the process of obtaining information, it said.

Stories involving Whitehall departments, in particular, have turned FOI into a 'cat and mouse' game for journalists with protracted delays and appeals to arbiters of the FOI process, such as the Information Commissioner, said Hayes.

According to the research, 75 per cent of appeals to the ICO are caused by refusals from departments of state, while 30 per cent of appeals remain unresolved after 12 months.

There is evidence of delays being introduced at multiple stages of the appeal process 'to delay disclosure until the "sell-by" date [of the news item] has occurred', it added.

The report said there was some evidence to support a contention amongst journalists who make FOI requests that some public officials delay or prevent the release of information with 'systematic obstruction'.

"While these delays persist, the utility to officials of refusing appeals as a means to induce delay will remain. This phenomenon is likely to remain a significant disincentive to journalists in the national media to use FOI as an investigative tool," it said.

"One could formulate a principle concerning the utility of the Act as follows: that its usefulness to journalists is in inverse proportion to its proximity to centres of power in Whitehall."

The study has also analysed different approaches by journalists using FOI requests, comparing the editorial benefits of 'the skilful forensic approach of the fly-fisherman' with 'the undiscriminating dragnet of the trawlerman'.

Journalists might be more persistent in their requests to public officials but they are responsible for no more than 15 per cent of the overall costs to government of FOI, the report added.

The report can be downloaded in full at this link .