Just to flag up the article in The Guardian yesterday, page 10, media law,
first para below.
Iain Flett
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The Freedom of Information Act brings new opportunities for journalists,
writes Martin Soames
Monday July 19, 2004
The Guardian
The Bush administration issued a directive last year saying there would be
no media coverage of the return of soldiers' bodies from the war in Iraq.
Earlier this year, activist Russ Kick filed a freedom of information request
for all photographs showing coffins of US military personnel returning to
Dover Air Force Base. To his surprise, the request was granted: the air
force supplied more than 360 photographs. The news that the US government
wanted to hide went straight to the front page.
Could it happen here? Until very recently the answer would have been no.
Civil servants usually refuse public requests for information. In England,
information held by public authorities has been made available only to those
who need to know. The Freedom of Information Act 2000, which will come fully
into force on 1 January 2005, aims to change all this. This Act has, like a
Stealth bomber, crept in under the radar. It has massive potential impact
and, in fact, it is already here.
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Iain EF Flett MA MPhil DP&AA RMSA FSAScot
Palaeographer, Archivist & Records Manager
5 Provost Road, Tayport, Fife,
Scotland DD6 9JE +44 (0)1382 552218
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Traidcraft - fighting poverty through trade
http://www.traidcraft.co.uk
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"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" George
Santayana
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