Freedom of Information Act a boon to journalism

Newspapers have made good use of the Freedom of Information Act by unearthing stories on a wide variety of subjects. A report by the Campaign for Freedom of Information has collated 500 examples of press stories, from both national and regional papers, which were published following requests using the new act. Heather Brooke, one of the foremost FoI campaigners, says: "This research couldn't have come at a better time. The government is trying to kneecap the freedom of information law by imposing fees on citizens who want to make requests, and some politicians claim FoI is a waste of taxpayer money. What this research shows is that transparency saves the taxpayer huge amounts of money by exposing graft, corruption and incompetence." (Via www.cfoi.org.uk)