freedom of information some tips for community journalists darryl chamberlain...
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Freedom of Information
Some tips for community journalists
Darryl Chamberlaindarrylchamberlain.co.uk @darryl1974
Here’s what I do….
853blog.com
Greenwich and neighbouringareas in south east London
Covering stories others don’t
Holding Greenwich Council and other bodies to account
Here’s what I do…
charltonchampion.co.uk
Community news and what’s happening in Charlton
Designed to be a neutral forumfor local news and views
Here’s what I do…
No to Silvertown Tunnel
Campaign against new roadcrossing of the Thames
New road would increasealready-horrifying levels of airpollution in south-east and east London
Other media in SE London
News Shopper (Newsquest)Based well outside local areaHas recently lost dedicated local reporters for Greenwich and LewishamPrint edition poorly distributed
Other media in SE London
Mercury (Tindle Newspapers)Runs on a skeleton staff, based well outside local areaIs a free paper, yet copies are hard to findTook until summer 2015 to launch a proper website
Other media in SE London
Greenwich Time (Greenwich Council)One of just two council weeklies left in EnglandDistributed to every home in Greenwich boroughGives a rosy glow on local council policies – week in, week out
The main players
• Greenwich Council – my local council
• Neighbouring councils such as
Lewisham
• Transport for London – agency run by
elected mayor of London which runs
public transport and main roads.
Why submit an FOI request?
• To find out figures
• To see how money is being spent
• To find views that’d otherwise be
kept secret
• To obtain documents
FOI to find out figures
FOI to find out figures
FOI to find out figures
Emirates Air Line FOI• Asked for hourly breakdown over a
week
• Asked for sales of a wide range of
tickets
• Exercise has been repeated over
three years
• Story generated London and UK
coverage
Emirates Air Line FOI
Emirates Air Line FOI
Follow the money
Follow the money• Greenwich Council’s private mayor-
making celebration costs £20,000
• Invite lists reveal it’s used to
schmooze property developers and
reward chums
• Asking for wine list added colour to
story
Follow the money
Section 106 payments on new developments such as supermarkets – where do they go?
FOI on new Charlton Sainsbury’s revealed no cash earmarked for local area
Revealing disagreements
Greenwich’s cycling sulk
• Greenwich Council was only one of 32
London boroughs to refuse to deal with
the mayor’s cycling commissioner
• This was based on council leader’s
personal dislike of the commissioner,
controversial journalist Andrew Gilligan
Greenwich’s cycling sulk
• I asked the Greater London Authority
for correspondence between Gilligan
and Greenwich Council
• Publishing the documents
embarrassed the council into
reversing its position
Find out why projects fail
FOI to get documents
FOI to get documents
• Council-commissioned study into possible
Docklands Light Railway extension – wasn’t
published on website, but obtained using FOI.
• Council cabinet had backed spending money on a
follow-up report, but was unwilling to make it
public. FOI ensured it was made public.
FOI to get documents
• Failed funding applications
• Audio recordings of council meetings
• Safety assessments of public
structures
• Officer briefings to elected officials
Opening up consultations
• You can ask for all responses to
public consultations
• No to Silvertown Tunnel has entire
dataset from 2014 consultation,
enabling campaign to map responses
and gauge support for scheme
Some final thoughts on FOI
• No two councils are the same – some
are more open than others.
• Have a good idea of what you expect
to see – be as specific as possible in
your request
Some final thoughts on FOI
Some final thoughts on FOI
• WhatDoTheyKnow.com is very useful in
enabling you to track your requests
• It also lets you monitor requests to your
local council and check nobody’s asked for
information already
• BUT… others may use your information
without crediting you for your research
Some final thoughts on FOI
• Are there other ways to get your
information? Try press office or
asking public question at a council
meeting.
• Just ask – the more questions you
ask, the better your stories will be.
Some final thoughts on FOI
Thanks for listening
darrylchamberlain.co.uk
@darryl1974