Your Right To Know » Training http://www.yrtk.org A guide to the Freedom of Information Act & other access laws Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:08:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Speaking at Open Tech http://www.yrtk.org/2009/speaking-at-open-tech/ http://www.yrtk.org/2009/speaking-at-open-tech/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:54:06 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/?p=894 Clarification: I’ll be taking part in Open Tech at ULU (University of London Union), on Malet Street near Russell Square on Saturday July 4th. Seriously hard-core geek action.

I’ll be taking part in the Freedom of Information workshop which will offer advice on how best to prise out official data from the cold, dead hand of government. Also giving a talk about my own little FOI battle with the House of Commons. Tickets are just £5. I’ll be selling a few copies of my old book – now a collector’s edition!

]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2009/speaking-at-open-tech/feed/ 2 New Training – May 12, 2006 http://www.yrtk.org/2006/new-training-may-12-2006/ http://www.yrtk.org/2006/new-training-may-12-2006/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2006 14:15:27 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/2006/new-training-may-12-2006/ I’ll be running a course at the National Union of Journalists 12 May 2006 from 10am-4.30pm at the NUJ headquarters in London. The course covers all aspects of the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) with particular emphasis on making the laws work for you in practice. I’ll suggest advice on the best way to forumulate requests based on my own, and other journalists’, experience.

The course is tailored for journalists (both local and national) but anyone with an interest in FOI is welcome. There will be a recap on the laws in practice and their enforcement and tips for overcoming the most common reasons for rejection: commercial confidentiality, data protection and policy formation. By the time you finish the course you should have at least two access requests ready to send out.

I hope to see some of you there!

For more information click here
Book online

]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2006/new-training-may-12-2006/feed/ 0 FOI exposes mast mistakes http://www.yrtk.org/2006/foi-exposes-mast-mistakes/ http://www.yrtk.org/2006/foi-exposes-mast-mistakes/#comments Tue, 28 Mar 2006 09:48:18 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/2006/foi-exposes-mast-mistakes/ A journalist who attended my NUJ course wrote in to tell me of his FOI experience. Malcolm Prior sent FOI requests to 41 councils and the resulting stories are running on the BBC News website, BBC South Today and local radio stations:

Council mast blunders uncovered – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4838152.stm

Eastleigh case study – Nurse fights on against mast blunder – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4840670.stm – and a full list of where the masts are – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4836396.stm

Malcolm said: “What’s amazing is how many councils wait right until the end of the 20 days to palm you off with a wrong or inaccurate answer. Luckily in some cases I already knew of a couple of examples, so I could point out that they had not checked their records properly. I am considering putting in complaints about a couple of them, which proved very resistant to providing the info.”

]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2006/foi-exposes-mast-mistakes/feed/ 1 Training for Journalism Educators http://www.yrtk.org/2005/training-for-journalism-educators/ http://www.yrtk.org/2005/training-for-journalism-educators/#comments Mon, 09 May 2005 16:42:48 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/2005/training-for-journalism-educators/ The next Association for Journalism Educators event is a seminar on Friday, June 10, 2005 at Sunderland University.

The theme will be: “Teaching research skills for journalism: Mindset, method, the Freedom of Information Act, and other access rights.”

I will be speaking at this event along with Colm Murphy, director of postgraduate journalism at Ulster University. Colm advises the Sunday Times on the FOI. When he worked for the ST full-time it was the biggest media user of the Irish FOI Act, winning several benchmark disclosure cases.

If you want to attend the seminar, please email AJE chair Professor Chris Frost at C.P.Frost@livjm.ac.uk

There will be a £10 charge for the seminar to help cover catering costs.
Click here for details of the seminar venue and recommended hotels.

]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2005/training-for-journalism-educators/feed/ 0 Next NUJ Training Course: 26 May http://www.yrtk.org/2005/next-nuj-training-course-26-may/ http://www.yrtk.org/2005/next-nuj-training-course-26-may/#comments Mon, 09 May 2005 13:53:44 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/2005/next-nuj-training-course-26-may/ 26 May 2005
London headquarters of the National Union of Journalists
For more information click here
Book online

Using the Freedom of Information Act and open records laws

Content
The long-awaited Freedom of Information Act grants the public a legal right to official information for the first time. No reporter should be without the knowledge of how to use this powerful piece of legislation. This course will teach you the basics of the FOIA and the other major access laws, how to file requests and challenge refusals. It will also give you a thorough grounding in how to use the many existing public records sources. The course will cover:

  • The Freedom of Information Act. What it is and how to use it. Exemptions, appeals and charges.
  • The new Environmental Information Regulations. What they are and how to use them. How the EIR differ from FOIA.
  • Local government information and access to meetings
  • Using access requests to produce investigative stories – an American and UK perspective.
  • An overview of all the major public registers, online databases, and internet resources
  • Integrating public records and public information requests into day-to-day reporting.
]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2005/next-nuj-training-course-26-may/feed/ 0 Manchester Training http://www.yrtk.org/2005/manchester-training/ http://www.yrtk.org/2005/manchester-training/#comments Fri, 04 Mar 2005 10:13:57 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/2005/manchester-training/ 11 March 2005
Manchester
See the NUJ website for more information and to book

Using the Freedom of Information Act and open records laws
This training session will be held at:

NUJ
5th Floor
Arthur House
Chorlton Street
Manchester
M1 3FH

Tel: 0161 237 5020
E-mail: nujmanchester@nuj.org.uk
Map and directions

]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2005/manchester-training/feed/ 0 Next NUJ Training Course http://www.yrtk.org/2004/next-nuj-training-course/ http://www.yrtk.org/2004/next-nuj-training-course/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:01:14 +0000 heather http://www.yrtk.org/?p=18 2 March 2005
Click here for more information and to book

Using the Freedom of Information Act and open records laws

Content
The long-awaited Freedom of Information Act grants the public a legal right to official information for the first time. Reporters who know how to use the act will have access to many exclusive stories. This course will teach you the basics of the FOIA and the other major access laws, how to file requests and challenge refusals. It will also give you a thorough grounding in how to use the many existing public records sources. The course will cover:

  • The Freedom of Information Act. What it is and how to use it. Exemptions, appeals and charges.
  • The new Environmental Information Regulations. What they are and how to use them. How the EIR differ from FOIA.
  • Local government information and access to meetings
  • Using access requests to produce investigative stories – an American and UK perspective.
  • An overview of all the major public registers, online databases, and internet resources
  • Integrating public records and public information requests into day-to-day reporting.
]]> http://www.yrtk.org/2004/next-nuj-training-course/feed/ 0