By MINDELL SMALL, Guardian Senior Reporter
mindell@nasguard.com
Bahamian media personnel joined a local attorney in calling on the government to pass a Freedom of Information Act (FIA).
Last week, attorney Fayne Thompson told a radio audience that it was sad that Bahamians today have to beg politicians to get information that should be easily accessible to the public.
"The only way we can get that information is by virtue of a Freedom of Information Act," said Mr Thompson. "I must have a right to know. You must give me standing to know what is going on in my country." Journalists came to the defence of Mr Thompson yesterday in a videoconference at the U.S. Embassy. They engaged U.S. media experts in a frank discussion on FIA, while highlighting other difficulties faced in the profession.
Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) and George Papagiannis, Director of Program Development at Internews, both acknowledged that the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S has helped reporters obtain important information from that country's government.
Dalglish said Bahamians too could agitate for FIA, similar to the agitation that resulted in the passing of such an Act in Mexico in April 2002.
"It has to be demonstrated by the voters and by the politicians to recognise how democracy is supposed to function," said Dalglish, who previously worked as a media lawyer.
She then revealed that in the U.S, media requests for information from the government accounted for less than 10 per cent of the total requests. There were far more requests from the business sector, and the largest group of people requesting information included war veterans seeking military service records.
However, Dalglish said even with the U.S. Act, passed in 1966, journalists were still facing roadblocks, as they are often unable to get necessary information within a day, in time for publication for broadcast. In addition, she said the U.S. legislation restricts the dissemination of information in nine categories, two of which include the distribution of information considered detrimental to national security or a violation of a person's privacy. "We've been struggling more frequently since 9/11 because as you might imagine, government has tried to put a lot more documents off limits from public disclosure," she said. "So that is a tense relationship that we've been dealing with over the last four or five years."
Dalglish further noted that many reporters, relying on confidential sources, were now very cautious about revealing information that would have otherwise been prohibited under FIA.
One such case occurred in July 2005, when New York Times Reporter, Judith Miller was thrown in jail for contempt of court, after she refused to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a leak named "Valerie Plame" as a covert CIA agent.
Papagiannis responded to this case saying, "The situation involving Judith Miller was an abomination."
"It also points out the fact that this is a constant struggle. Democracy is a working progress. There is nothing perfect about this system," the veteran award-winning journalist added.
