Moving predominately through law (shockingly we are already approaching week 9) we begin to look at the Freedom of Information Act and the way information can be given to you as a journalist legally. The Act was passed in 2000 that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities, this allows the public and journalists a mandatory right to whether or not they are allowed the information. The authority has to declare if they can disclose the information requested therefore preventing certain organisations or public bodies from lying. There are many people covered under this act, some being;
- More than 1000 public bodies including government bodies, schools and councils.
- The health system
- Education
- Hospitals
- Parish and town councils
- Dentists
- Pharmacies
- GP's
There are of course exemptions to this, these being;
- Security and Intelligence services
- Special forces
- NCIS
The above have no duty to confirm or deny any of the information various people may be enquiring about as to whether it exists or not.
For those who are interested in requesting information from a public body, you must state in writing with enough information on what you are looking for that will allow an authority to reply too. You must also specify how you want the information back, for example through a letter, email, fax ect.
However the main danger of asking for information is that you could possibly break the Section 8 HRA and Data Protection Act by accidently identifying someone in particular. If so, they can refuse your request as it may identify someone. Most requests usually take within 20 working days and are often free.
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