FleetStreetBlues: How to get the most out of FOI requests
Saturday, 9 January 2010, 11:38
"[The] bottom line is this – if a public body doesn't want to tell you something, it probably won't. There are dozens of exemptions it can choose from. But the Freedom of Information Act provides a framework for the argument – it's a chance to make your case, and to formally appeal for information in the public interest."
BBC News: MPs’ expenses drama to star Anna Maxwell Martin
Thursday, 10 December 2009, 08:15
"Bringing Down the House will feature Martin as US campaigner Heather Brooke, who battled to force MPs to reveal details of their expenses."
Sky News: Government Wants Online ‘Rogues’ Galleries’ To Show Public How Criminals Dealt With By Courts
Thursday, 3 December 2009, 17:40
Government wants to introduce online sentencing information for local areas. Peter Murray, vice-president of the National Union of Journalists, tells Sky News: "The point about journalism, as opposed to information provided by arms of the state, is that it's filtered through people who have all the ethical training, political background and experience. That filtering process is not there on a police or local authority website, so people committing a minor offence may find themselves victimised, or subject to vigilantism because people would have no means of determining the seriousness of the offence committed."
Your Right to Know: Hidden High Court Injunctions
Saturday, 17 October 2009, 09:53
Heather Brooke: "It is bad enough that superinjunctions exist at all, but it is absolutely appalling that there are not even records kept of how often they are used. Pressure needs to be put on the High Court to record these occasions, and make the details public as a matter of urgency."
Birmingham Post: Help Me Investigate website uncovers parking ticket hotspots in Birmingham
Monday, 27 July 2009, 13:07
"A study by a groundbreaking public journalism project has revealed the worst place to park in Birmingham. … Freedom of Information specialist Heather Brooke obtained the figures from Birmingham City Council, and the data was collated and sorted by Help Me Investigate user Neil Houston."
FollowTheMoney.eu: Find out how your taxes helped empty the seas
Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 11:12
"Today sees the launch of a new transparency website from the FollowTheMoney.eu stable. It presents data on 97,260 payments totalling 8.5 billion euro from 1994 to 2006."
FollowTheMoney.eu: Find out how your taxes helped empty the seas
Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 11:12
"Today sees the launch of a new transparency website from the FollowTheMoney.eu stable. It presents data on 97,260 payments totalling 8.5 billion euro from 1994 to 2006."
FishSubsidy.org
Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 11:11
Another EU-wide freedom of information project from FollowtheMoney.eu
FishSubsidy.org
Tuesday, 30 June 2009, 11:11
Another EU-wide freedom of information project from FollowtheMoney.eu
Design Issues: Putting Government Data online
Thursday, 25 June 2009, 17:22
Tim Berners-Lee: "Government data is being put online to increase accountability, contribute valuable information about the world, and to enable government, the country, and the world to function more efficiently. All of these purposes are served by putting the information on the Web as Linked Data. Start with the "low-hanging fruit". Whatever else, the raw data should be made available as soon as possible."
Design Issues: Putting Government Data online
Thursday, 25 June 2009, 17:22
Tim Berners-Lee: "Government data is being put online to increase accountability, contribute valuable information about the world, and to enable government, the country, and the world to function more efficiently. All of these purposes are served by putting the information on the Web as Linked Data. Start with the "low-hanging fruit". Whatever else, the raw data should be made available as soon as possible."
Observer: Parliament’s transparency trick puts raw data out of easy reach
Thursday, 25 June 2009, 11:17
John Naughton: "[Why] should we have to exercise arcane technical skills in order to get at public data? As one US expert put it, "converting PDF to XML [ie web format] is a bit like converting hamburgers back into cows". We'd like the cows, please. After all, we paid for their upkeep. Why can't all official numerical data be published in internet-friendly formats? That's what the Obama administration is now doing. And it's what the UK government would be doing if Gordon Brown's commitment to "transparency" was anything other than an expedient gimmick. This isn't just a matter for techies; it's about the health of our democracy in a networked age."
Press Gazette: Government cuts 30-year rule and looks to extend FoI
Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 14:26
"Gordon Brown said today that he had asked internet guru Sir Tim Berners-Lee to 'help us drive the opening up of access to government data on the web'. He also said that justice secretary Jack Straw was considering whether the scope of the Freedom of Information Act should be extended to further bodies which spend public money."
Telegraph: Oxford University kitchens ‘unacceptably dirty’
Friday, 29 May 2009, 07:51
"The statistics were obtained from Freedom of Information requests submitted to Oxford City Council and to individual colleges at the university by the Cherwell, a student newspaper."
