Tagged: newcastle evening chronicle
FOI: Remembering that FOI is about more than just getting data
Last month, David Cameron described the principle of open data being better than Freedom of Information because it is the process of discovery which is, to use his phrase, ‘furring up the arteries’ of government.
For what it’s worth, I can’t help but think that in central government especially, the furring up is caused by working out how to withhold information – as MPs expenses, the Hillsborough files and the use of private email accounts by Michael Gove’s advisors at the eduction department all prove.
But it shouldn’t be an either/or situation in the first place. As summed up in this Talk About Local post, the difference between FOI and open data is that the former allows the public to set the agenda for what should be released, the latter doesn’t.
Maybe it isn’t that surprising that Government seeks to find parallels between open data and FOI – after all, for journalists, FOI is a quick (but not always reliable) route to data which can make for a good story.
When I compile FOI Friday, I try to pick examples which might be useful to journalists looking for FOI ideas in their area, so data-led stories do dominate a bit.
So I thought it would be worth highlighting an excellent example of using FOI to get letters and emails which make for a great story, courtesy of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle (Disclaimer: The Chronicle is one of the regional daily titles I work with as digital publishing director for Trinity Mirror’s regional websites).
When Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley decided to rename St James’ Park as the Sports Direct Arena, it caused some upset, as you might expect. Things became heated between Newcastle City Council and club when the political leaders decided to write to the BBC and ITV urging them not to use the new name. The club, as you might expect, reacted angrily, threatening legal action if the club felt it had lost revenue as a result of the council’s actions.
All of this would have remained under wraps had it not been for an FOI request by Chronicle reporter Andrew Glover – who used FOI to get hold of the correspondence between the council and the club, from the council.
The club’s letter to the council was published here, and the response here.
It’s an excellent example of FOI being used not for data, but for information – and it’s worth remembering that communications between public bodies and others are covered by FOI (Even if the Department for Education continues to think otherwise).
The story, as you might expect, caused quite a stir and was followed up extensively – although sadly, not even the newest media players in Newcastle felt that linking to the source of the story enhanced the user’s experience. Some things never change, eh?
Gallery: How the newspapers which knew Gary Speed best covered his death
The death of Gary Speed was one of those news stories which, when read first on Twitter, always makes me think: “I need to see that several more times from people I trust before I believe it.” Confirmation followed soon after.
As is increasingly the case on social networks, the actual news was soon superceded by speculation about what happened, while broadcast news and news websites kept – largely – to the facts and went heavily on tributes.
But Monday morning brought another aspect to the coverage – content from some of the journalists who knew him best – regional journalists who covered the clubs he played for and, latterly, managed.
As I tend to do from time to time on this blog, here’s a round-up of the front page from the areas with the closest connection to Speed the player and Speed the manager:
FOI Friday: Strange weapons, cost of a big fire, prison menus and revisiting attacks at hospitals
Newcastle Evening Chronicle: Reports compiled about big fire show concerns over safety equipment
EFFORTS to fight a giant blaze were hit by concerns over safety equipment.
Internal fire service documents seen by the Chronicle reveal the fire caused damage to the neck straps on firefighters’ breathing masks that did not meet required standards.
The fault was raised in a report compiled by chiefs and an investigation was recommended.
The documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also reveal how the cost of the operation exceeded £50,000.
Details released under the Freedom of Information Act show police have confiscated hundreds of unusual items which have been used in attacks or deemed offensive weapons.
The haul also includes a pizza shovel, a quill pen and a pool ball in a sock.
Newcastle Journal: £4million seized back from criminals in North East
MORE than £4m was seized from North East criminals in just two years as police used court powers to strip them of their ill-gotten gains.
Criminals on Tyneside and in Northumberland paid back nearly £700,000 in cash while, following examinations by forensic accountants, fraudsters have also had to pay nearly £2.5m to cover the cost of their assets.
Financial investigators calculated the true value of their benefits to determine exactly what they owed from their businesses.
FOI Friday: Speaking clocks, hospital parking fines, gagging orders and snooping on council staff
1. Court cases dropped for ‘not being in the public interest’
Some fascinating numbers reported in the London Evening Standard as a result of an FOI request to the Crown Prosecution Service, which was asked to reveal how many prosecutions in London were dropped ‘because they were no longer in the public interest’ – often on cost grounds. More than 20,000 cases were dropped in London, a rise on previous years, with critics saying costs are increasingly a factor. One which could run and run elsewhere?
2. Another case of the cost of the obese
FOI requests asking hospitals about what they’ve spent on equipment to deal with obese people are nothing new – but asking the ambulance service could bring in some interesting results, as this story on the Daily Post in North Wales proves.
Here’s a new take on the parking tickets FOI. We’ve all done FOIs about the how much hospitals make from parking charges, but how many parking tickets do they issue? In Aberdeen, it’s around 2000 fines a year. A nice sideline if ever there was one?
FOI Friday: Overdue books, bedding plants, baby scans and trading standards
1. The most overdue books in town
The devil, they say, is in the detail. And the Accrington Observer got plenty of detail back from its FOI request into overdue books at Accrington Library. Not only did they find out the number of books which are overdue, and the total amount owing in fines, but they also got details of the most overdue book at each library in the area. The most overdue book in the borough is a book called Balloon, which should have been returned in 2004. That means £300 of fines are attached to that book – although the cap on fees is just £6.
Here’s one which will probably have critics of FOI claiming its proof of people abusing the act, but to me it’s just another example of councils being held to account. The Evening Chronicle in Newcastle used FOI to find out how much councils were spending on bedding plants. The total is around £500,000. It’s a good example of FOI being used to prompt a debate. On one hand, nice flower beds could be seen as a luxury councils can’t afford, but on the other, they’ll be the things people complain about if axed.
3. The cost of that first baby photo
Accusations flying of ‘stealth taxes’ on expectant mums in Birmingham after an FOI request revealed that the city’s main birthing hospital is making more than £50,000 a year from selling pictures of pregnency scans to happy (and I would imagine, some not so happy) parents-to-be. The £6-a-photo charge is much higher than at other hospitals.
Man suffers burns when picking up cat
A headline to make you stop and ask "Why?"
What’s the secret of a great regional newspaper headline? Surely making the reader stop and feel they need to know more is part of the mix.
If so, then this front page from the Newcastle Evening Chronicle is surely a great example.
The story – which is quite horrific – can be found on the Chronicle website here.
FOI Friday: Swine flu deaths, speeding points, paper cuts in hospital and fuel prices
The board of the North West Strategic Health Authority, according to its website. The authority's record on FOI and freedom of information is quite sickly
So, how many people did die of swine flu?
For reasons known only to itself – although the fact it keeps being named and shamed by the Information Commissioner for its poor record on FOI might be a clue – the North West Strategic Health Authority banned hospital trusts from giving out figures on swine flu deaths in January.
So the Manchester Evening News turned to FOI to get the true figures. Now it can reveal the number who died in Manchester, and it’s twice as high as originally reported. The SHA’s attitude is little short of shameful, and its original excuse for imposing the ban – because there was no guarantee the figures were accurate – is simply laughable.
Domestic violence at a hyperlocal level
A good example of how low police can go when asked to provide statistics. The Hinckley Times reports not only how many incidents of domestic violence there were in its area, but also how many there were in each police patrol area too.
The Times also married up these police patrol areas to the local council wards they covered, thus making it easier for readers to understand the numbers against areas they were more likely to know.
The Yorkshire Post reports on an FOI request which revealed that Asda in Harrogate was the place where more crimes were reported than anywhere else in North Yorkshire. Asda disputes the figures, arguing that the numbers include incidents around the store, not just in it. The fact that a sexual assault took place on its car park a week later doesn’t help that argument.
FOI Friday: Lost warrant cards, council sick days, noisy students and the real cost of council savings
The Yorkshire Post used the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many warrant cards had been lost or stolen by officers in Yorkshire in recent years. The answer: 370. Why are warrant cards particularly important? According to the paper:
Just over a week ago a gang of distraction burglars were jailed for 21 years after tricking their way into the homes of residents in their 70s, 80s and 90s in Scarborough, York and Boston Spa by posing as police officers.
(Source: Yorkshire Post)
With council cuts looming large left, right and centre, the Sunday Sun in Newcastle used FOI to find out how many days were lost due to sickness in councils. The answer was 3,353 years of sick days lost in one year – with hundreds of people off for more than six months. According to union leaders, the current cuts will only make the problem worse:
Union leaders and stress experts say rising workloads, financial strains and the looming threat of job cuts is putting unbearable pressures on the workers.
(Source: Sunday Sun)
3. Payouts to the victims of Derrick Bird
Ahead of the Derrick Bird shooting inquests, the Daily Mirror had this story: the amount paid out by the Ministry of Justice’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to the relatives of the victims of Bird. The average amount works out at £12k. (Source: Daily Mirror)
FOI: Government admits a public interest, but still manages to keep secrets…
The Newcastle Evening Chronicle has been campaigning for compensation for sufferers of pleural plaques since 2009.
Being in an industrial part of the world, it’s a big issue for Chronicle readers. Pleural plaques is a scarring of the lungs caused by asbestos.
The previous government committed to payouts of up to £5,000 per sufferer, and the coalition government has carried this on.
The Chronicle’s Westminster correspondent, William Green, used FOI to ask for copies of correspondence sent and received by the Justice Secretary and his private office, along with the relevant minister, between May and December last year.
That included internal emails, letters, briefings and reports by officials as well as notes of any meetings or telephone calls.
The Chronicle reports the response as follows:
“Actionable news”: A dull phrase, but one which should shape what we do
If you were presented with the following three news stories: The promotion of Newcastle United to the Premier League, the death of Raoul Moat after a week on the run, or a story which revealed which restaurants were Newcastle’s dirtiest – which would you expect to be the most viewed online this year?
In the case of the Newcastle Evening Chronicle website, ChronicleLive, it’s the latter of the three. Looking at the top stories for the Chronicle so far this year, the restaurants tale comfortably beats any one of the stories written about Newcastle United’s glorious end to the season or the police chase for Moat.
It’s worth pointing out at this point that collectively, the stories written in the week Moat was on the run will have generated more traffic than the single story on dirty restaurants, but none individually matched the restaurants story. Ditto the Newcastle United promotion.
