Access to Information:Jamaica
Access to Information: Jamaica
Access to Information:
The
use
ofto Access
to
The use
of Access
information in Investigative
journalism: An International perspective
information in
Investigative journalism:
An International
perspective
Access to Information:Jamaica
“There is not a crime, there is not
a dodge, there is not a trick,
there is not a swindle, there is
not a vice which does not live
by secrecy.”
Joseph Pulitzer
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is a right to
Information?
• New Human right
• Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR). Article
19
• Knowledge is Power
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is a right to information?
• It is a right to know what your
government is doing and to view
the information they hold or
create.
• The opposite of secrecy
• It is the acceptance of the
principle that the Government
does not own the information
which it holds but it belongs to the
people
Access to Information:Jamaica
Why is a right to information important?
• Greater accountability and
transparency
• Allows fulfillment of civil and political
rights
• Prevents and reveals corruption
• Increases public participation in a
democracy
• Lack of information can deny us
food, minimum wage, medicine,
hurricane relief and a hospital.
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is its value to society?
• “ Inequality of access to information is a
form of poverty”
Amartya Sen Noble Peace Prize Economist
• Thai School
• Moratorium Crime Statistics- South Africa
Access to Information:Jamaica
Do we have a right to
information in Jamaica ?
• The Access to Information Act 2002
• Section 6 of the Jamaica ATI Act 2002
• "Every person shall have a right to
obtain access to an official document
other than an exempt document."
• Passed in Parliament July 22, 2002.
• Brought into effect January 4, 2004
Access to Information:Jamaica
What has the experience been in
implementation?
• Twenty (20) Public Authorities under the Act
• December 2004, 279 applications for access
to Government.
• By July 2005 all Public Authorities will be
bought under Act
• ATI Appeal Tribunal has received ten (10)
appeals
Access to Information:Jamaica
What types of requests have been made?
Persons have made requests for:• Cost of the stay of President Aristide
• The number of cases concerning persons
being beaten by Police Officers while in
custody
• The contract for the renovations of the
Governor of the Bank of Jamaica’s House
• The ratio of nurses to doctors at a Hospital
in Montego Bay
• The basis for the grant of a duty concession
to a popular entertainer
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is Investigative Journalism?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Investigative journalism is ...
In-depth, long-term research & reporting
Documentary research and use of public
and private records, following the paper
trail
Extensive interviewing
Crime-solving tools and methods
(undercover reporting, hidden cameras,
surveillance)
Revealing information others want to keep
secret or information not known to the
public
Materials form Conference on
Access to Information:Jamaica
Why is ATI important for journalists?
• Investigative Journalists need access
to credible reliable information
• Important for journalists who want to
rely on facts instead of innuendo
• Journalists depend on having a free
flow of information
• Journalists are watchdogs
• Information access no longer
discretionary or solely dependant on
sources
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is the role of ATI in Investigative
Reporting?
• ATI can play an important role in
investigative journalism.
• It can be a Story e.g.refusal
• It can be used to build a story
• The use of ATI is based on
Document oriented reporting
Access to Information:Jamaica
Importance of ATI to Journalists
• ATI is simply a tool of getting information
out.
• A successful or semi-successful FOI
request ought to be the springboard for
follow-up
• ATI requests can throws extra light on an
issue, changes the complexion of a
problem or otherwise brings out a good
story.
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in other
countries ?- United States
• Pictures of coffins of Soldiers who
died in IRAQ
• Minutes of meetings of energy
industry with Dick Cheney
• Federal program to give money to
large fast food companies to advertise
over seas ($200 million)
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in
other countries – United States?
• The Albuquerque Tribune filed
requests for information on victims of
governmental radiation experiments
in the early 1990s
• The Dayton Daily News used the Act
to peruse Occupational Safety and
Health Administration databases
obtained through the Act to identify
the most dangerous work places in
the country.
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in other
countries? -Ireland
• Journalists made 17% of the 3,000
applications for information in the first year
of the operation of the Act
• An RTE journalist, Charlie Bird, used the Act
to obtain correspondence which revealed
there had been political interference in the
promotion of diplomats. Other stories as a
result of the Act have dealt with the
expenses of ministers and how much MPs
spent on foreign trips.
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in other
countries? –United Kingdom
• Freedom of Information Act passed in
England on January 1, 2005, 4,000
requests in 1 month.
• Agencies receiving the most requests:-The
National Archives, the Ministry of Defence
and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
• Requests include restaurant hygiene
inspections to loaned artwork and
ministerial residences.
• 2000 requests have come from journalists.
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in
other countries? -Australia
In Australia, a reporter for the Canberra
Times made a request that involved the oil
painting of Malcolm Fraser. It was
commissioned by Parliament but Fraser did
not like it so it was sent to the warehouse
and another $12,000 portrait was
commissioned. They asked to see the reject
and were told no. Access was sought under
FOI arguing that, an oil painting was a
document. Access was given to TV stations
rather than the paper making the original
request.
Access to Information:Jamaica
How have journalists used their RTI in
other countries? Canada
• A Health Department memo was obtained under the
Access to Information Act of Canada that stated that
there was use of U.S. prison blood products in
Canada after being halted in the United States
because U.S. authorities did not tell a Canadian
broker the products were unsafe.
• An estimated 1,000 Canadian hemophiliacs, many
of whom had died, were exposed to blood products
manufactured from plasma collected through U.S.
prisons, notably the Cummins Unit at Grady, Ark.
• Canadian hemophiliacs launched a $5-billion US
lawsuit alleging the FDA was negligent in continuing
to license prison blood centres despite evidence that
prisons are rife with infection-drug use and high-risk
sex.
Access to Information:Jamaica
What are some of the problems Journalists
have with ATI?
• Time to obtain information
• Requests can be ignored
• ATI is not geared towards all-newsall-the-time media
• Costs
• Government may make public
requests made or give tips to
journalists who can create a spin to
information
• Need support from Editors
Access to Information:Jamaica
What are some of the problems Journalists
have with ATI?
• Not every request results in a story
• Getting a story through ATI may take
human resources assigned to one story,It is
easy to fill up a newspaper, television report
or radio program with material which does
not cost a lot to generate.
JOURNALISTS, FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
LEGISLATION AND INVESTIGATIVE
REPORTING Jack Waterford ,Editor The Times
Access to Information:Jamaica
What should journalists in JA be doing?
• Before making an ATI request about
Government, research your topic
thoroughly.
• Look at the public record first. "Fishing
expeditions" can only occasionally be
productive.
• Establish who the official is with charge
over the area and contact them.
• Read information the Government provides
publicly.
• Make a request usually only if regular
inquiries have failed to produce what you
want.
• Determine the material nature of the
information is it held on paper, in electronic
form, or both?
Access to Information:Jamaica
What should journalists in JA be doing?
• Review publication schemes of Public
Authorities to ascertain what
documents are held by the Authority
• Take care in making requests be
specific:-You can frame your request in
terms of information or documents e.g.
"I want all documents that would
enable me to discover how the tender
process worked”, or “I want all the
contracts award to X”.
Access to Information:Jamaica
What should journalists in JA be doing
• Do not be deterred by an initial refusal. Ask
again.
• When refused access, one should not
automatically appeal. One should look at
the reasons and see whether they stand up.
The onus of proving that information should
not be released is, entirely on the agency.
• May make requests for documents for
potential stories or to come up with a story
e.g. a request for a list of all files in a
registry
• Read your obtained documents very
carefully; they can provide additional leads.
Access to Information:Jamaica
What should journalists in JA be doing?
• Journalists have to understand their rights under the
Act, know how to frame a request and understand
types of documents which might be available and
what they might expect
• Making requests even though it may take weeks to
get the information
• Reporting on Appeals and Refusals
• Monitoring the implementation process
• Testing different access system to information which
should be publicly available e.g. Info from court
houses, on registers.
• Making requests for ATI logs of requests made
Access to Information:Jamaica
What is the public interest in having
information released?
• Journalists have to be prepared to argue
that there is an overwhelming public interest
in disclosure including that disclosure may
help to ensure that:
• informed public debate
• Public participation
• Scrutiny of the decision-making process
• Accountability -spending of public money
• No misinformation
• Information about possible dangers to health
and safety or the environment are released
Access to Information:Jamaica
Jamaica Access to Information
Act :FAQ
• Comes into force in stages
• Covers entire public sector except
Governor General where uses
powers and duties under constitution,
judges, Police and JDF in relation to
their intelligence gathering activities
• Includes a right to information – not
absolute –narrow categories of
exemptions s.7 s.14-21
Access to Information:Jamaica
Jamaica Access to Information
Act :FAQ
• Obligation of Government
bodies to publish what
information they hold s.4
• Obligation to respond within
a specific time s.7 – 30 days
after receipt of request.
Access to Information:Jamaica
Jamaica Access to Information Act : FAQ
• A right of internal review and to
appeal when refused information
s.30 &32
• A right to information at a
reasonable cost s.12
• A right to information without
proof of an interest or reason for
wanting the information s.6
Access to Information:Jamaica
Case Studies
•
•
•
•
•
Pick out one story from these case
studies and discuss the following:
1.Is this a good story?
3. How will you approach this story
using ATI as a tool?
4. Where will you get the
information?
5. What arguments will you use to
support your claims for access to
information?
© 2003, Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Colombo, Sri Lanka
Access to Information:Jamaica
“Freedom, prosperity
and the development of
society depend on
education as well as on
unrestricted access to
knowledge, thought,
culture and information”
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, 2005