FOI Friday: The stories made possible thanks to FOI in September 2016

A look at some of the stories made possible thanks to FOI laws in the UK – most of which can easily be replicated elsewhere… Ambulances called to one house 500 times < Kent Online Ambulance crews were called to 595 emergency calls from one private address in one year. The astonishing figure came to

FOI FRIDAY: 10 FOI ideas for journalists is back!

Welcome to the return of FOI – a weekly look at FOI stories which are worth sharing (and in many cases, copying). As an added incentive to read on, this blog will also celebrate/shame those councils who prove that actions speak louder than words when it comes to delivering on the principles of FOI and

FOI Friday: Bouncing babies, sex offence tickings off and pensioners on drugs

Some very bouncing babies < Huddersfield Examiner Hundreds of Huddersfield’s bouncing babies are tipping the scales more than 2lbs above the national average. Figures reveal about 100 babies per year are born at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust weighing in excess of 9lb 9oz. The national averages are 7lb 8oz for a boy and

FOI FRIDAY: Clown crimes, daily A&E visitors, attacks on buses and pauper funerals

Sexual exploitation within a police force < Birmingham Mail Three West Midlands Police officers abused their position of authority by sexually exploiting underage children in the last two years. The predators in uniform were sacked or resigned after being convicted at court for targeting a 15-year-old and two 14-year-olds. Meanwhile, other officers from the force

FOI Friday: Roadworks hell, hidden art, naughty nurses and bedblocking patients

Plagues of roadworks < Get Surrey Dismay has been expressed over a ‘plague’ of roadworks on a stretch between Bramley and Guildford in the past three years. Information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that more than 860 individual projects were carried out on the A281 from 2012 to 2014 – an average

Think like a human, report like a journalist: How to handle breaking news on social media

Managing Facebook communities can be a bit of a conundrum for newsrooms. On one hand, a strong Facebook community built around your brand’s page can drive huge audiences to your website. On the other hand, it can be quite hard to ‘control’ the crowd – if, indeed, that’s how journalists see their role. Despite being

FOI Friday: Air gun attacks, stressed out students, pauper funerals and troubled families

Bedroom tax rent arrears < Wolverhampton Express and Star Out of 3,803 Sandwell people affected by the removal of the Government’s spare room subsidy, 2,432 have now fallen into rent arrears. But the Labour-led council has not yet evicted anyone for falling into arrears as a result of what has become widely known as the

Turning journalism from an art into a science … and then back again

WARNING: Long read! Summary as follows: Journalism has always been about gut instinct and hunches. Those who did best were those who guessed what audiences wanted. Digital audience data, however, means that journalism is much a science as an art now Journalism: Craft, trade or profession? It’s a debate which comes around periodically, normally when

FOI Friday: Teachers causing concern, prisoners on Facebook, school place fraud and teenage career criminals

Teachers on the ‘concern list’ < Basildon Echo ALMOST 170 teaching staff are on a council list showing there are concerns about their working in schools. They are not barred from working, but schools will be aware of the list of concerns, compiled by Essex County Council. A total of 23 teachers and 14 other

20 great storm photos which show us how journalism is changing

The recent storms – which are continuing as I write this – have dominated many local news websites and their associated newspapers. Great images have not been in short supply. This isn’t meant to be a ’20 great images’ post, but a collection of images which tell us something about how we cover big weather