“Journalists play a central role in initiating and stimulating public debates but face constant challenges in accessing information from public bodies” and sadly, this is growing more and more difficult for the common journalist.
This is why people like Legalleaks are producing toolkits for journalists: “The Legal Leaks project not only explains what access to information laws are and how they should be used, but also creates an international network of journalists who could help each other access information”.
The toolkit itself consists of a series of step-by-step, easy to navigate instructions that try to provide solutions to all the problems you may have whilst conducting investigative journalism. It is designed as a cross-platform guide to finding information in your, and in detail for this guide other, countries.
They set out any differentiation in the laws of each respective country and allow for the practice of investigative journalism to go on without fear of retribution.
On a less fearful note, there is also a mass of information on how to speed up and simplify the commonly infuriating process of applying for (and then waiting for) information, as well as balancing projects to coincide with the waiting time.
It’s worth taking a look at if you work in any capacity as a journalist, because the advice will always be useful in obtaining, compiling and deconstructing data.