Spin control and freedom of information:

1
Spin control and freedom of information

• How will the conflict be managed?

Alasdair Roberts Campbell Public Affairs
Institute The Maxwell School of Syracuse
Universityhttpwww.aroberts.us
2
FOIA's disruptive potential

• Right to government documents
• Opportunities to shape agenda
• Apparent limits to government control
• Presumption of access
• Statutory time limits
• Without regard to
• Identity of requester
• Purpose for which information will be used

3
The "crisis of governability"

• More turbulent environment
• Fragmentation of political authority
• More advocacy groups
• Media competition
• Corrosion of trust
• Leads to concern for
• Agenda control
• Centralized control of communications
• "Message discipline"

4
Governments' response

• Minimizing the disruptive potential of FOI
• Litigation on interpretation of law
• Statutory reversals
• Exclusion of new quangos
• Administrative routines for treatment of
  politically sensitive requests

5
The amber light process

• Risk assessment of incoming requests
• Presumption on media, party requests
• Consult political/communication staffs
• Tag the most sensitive requests
• Notify OPI of amber-light status
• Prepare "communications products"
• Review by Ministers' Offices
• Review by Privy Council Office

6
Technology for control RTS's

• Request Tracking Systems (RTS's)
• Adapted to permit
• More precise categorization of requesters
• Political Party
• Member of Parliament
• Tagging sensitive and amber-light files
• Generating regular reports

7
Technology CAIRS

• Coordination of Access to Information Request
  System (CAIRS)
• Daily uploads?
• Government-wide access
• Research on use
• Access log data obtained under ATIA
• IP numbers of users' computers
• IP numbers traceable to federal institutions

8
Broad searches on CAIRS
9
TBS Guidelines, April 2002
10
Of 81 requests reviewed by PCO following 9/11
for which data was available, 60 were filed by
the media or political parties or MPs.
11
Impact of procedures

• Statistical analysis of drawn from RTS's under
  ATIA
• Data from eight institutions accounting for about
  half of all federal ATIA requests
• Data on 25,806 requests completed in 2000-2002

12
Effect on Response Time
13
Probability of deemed refusal
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Other effects

• Amount of disclosure
• Key Early notice to OPI
• Capacity to respond to news story
• Identify official to respond
• Develop key messages
• Take counter-measures

15
Trouble ahead?

• Legitimate interest, excessive controls
• Timely access
• Appropriate disclosure
• Viability of decentralized approach to FOIA
  administration?
• Importance of administrative routine
• A "hidden law" on FOI
• Impact on substantive rights
• Need to monitor