Give me numbers
More than one in five newspaper stories which arise from journalists using FOI are about costs and expenses.
This was the most popular kind of newspaper FOI-based story in 2005, according to a study published today by the at University College, London.
A similar proportion covered Institutional rules, procedures and policies. The other common theme for front-page stories was performance statistics or data.
This reflects the sort of public sector information which has been most easily available under FOI, because it is difficult to argue that the balance of the public interest is against its disclosure.
So one result has been more stories about numbers - not always the kind of stories which traditionally have been handled well by numerically-challenged journalists.
Will this early pattern continue? That depends on how FOI is allowed to develop, by government, the Information Commissioner and the courts, and particularly on the extent of access it will be allowed to provide to discussion about public policy.
The study about journalists' use of freedom of information is reported in the latest issue of the .
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