FOI under fire
The Australian Centre for Independent Journalism has been denied access to complaints about the ABC’s Middle East coverage following a Federal Court ruling. The decision in the Freedom of Information case has raised concerns about the level of transparency at the public broadcaster. The decision raised eyebrows because SBS, which has access to the same FOI Act exemptions as the ABC, decided to fulfil a similar request from author Anthony Loewenstein. Chris Nash from the ACIJ spoke to The Wire about the process involved in lodging the freedom of information request with the ABC. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Matthew Moore expressed concern that this court decision could make it increasingly difficult to obtain information about the ABC’s operations.