By XiaoZhi Lim
“In our profession, information is currency,” says freelance science journalist Nadia Drake, introducing a small crowd of participants to a media law workshop at the NASW annual meeting in Columbus, OH. “It's what we trade in, whether you're a freelancer, staff writer, PIO, or scientist, and there are laws governing how you can get some of that information.”
When information becomes difficult to get, journalists can use the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain what they need. But there are many caveats, and journalists seeking information through public records often have to jump through hoops to get it. “You don't have a right to ask questions and get answers,” says C. Amanda Martin, general counsel to North Carolina Press Association and workshop speaker, “but you have a right to records.”
Martin explains the process of obtaining records in three main steps. “Thoughtfully planning your public records request at the beginning will save you a lot of running around,” she says. A journalist digging for information should first think about what kind of record would contain the information he/she needs. Next, figure out where would this record exist, and who would have it. Finally, find out if this record can be obtained and if there are any exemptions from FOIA.
A record doesn’t have to be an official document. Martin reminds the audience that the pertinent information could be in various forms, for example, an email. However, a journalist can only request records that already exist. When requesting for records, a journalist can ask for it in any form, from paper documents to a searchable Excel spreadsheet.
It is useful to think about records in three groups when figuring out whether a record can be obtained or not. Martin describes the three “buckets” of records: must be disclosed, can be disclosed and cannot be disclosed. The important group to watch out for is the records that can be disclosed, Martin says. It is easy for a public official to deny a request for records with the reason that it cannot be disclosed. “You need to know if that’s true or not,” Martin emphasizes. “If it’s not true — if they can, they just don’t have to, but if they can give it to you — then your next job is to talk them into it.”
Sometimes, a journalist receives information that is confidential. “I know that it is not illegal to receive information, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to give you a force-five-hurricane migraine down the line,” says Martin. “It’s something that you really need to think about carefully.” Am I going to out my source? Who’s going to get upset? (Ideally, not a litigious person.) Will I get a subpoena? Will my editor have my back?
The workshop concludes abruptly as Martin runs out of time answering the audience’s many questions. "It's a lot of material; when I teach this in law school, it takes weeks. So consider yourselves honorary graduates!"
