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Your Right to Know

Investigating Failures

The Newcastle Herald

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Your Right to Know

Donna Page

Investigative reporter

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TEXT SLIDE

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DIRTY DEEDS

Uncovering industry pollution

  • Millions of litres of toxic chemicals dumped into creeks over decades.

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  • Indefinite ban on drinking from or swimming in three creeks.

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  • Contaminated land, aquifers and farmers unable to eat produce.

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  • EPA failures, illness in workers and ongoing battle for remediation.

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LEFT TO ROT

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Uncovering Industry Pollution

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Traditional shoe-leather reporting. Persistence and patience.

Hear them. Be honest about any consequences.

Keep your sources informed of progress.

Follow up, follow up and follow up again. Be relentless.

Combine data and research into human interest stories.

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Who’s in charge? Industry laws and regulations.

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Uncovering Industry Pollution

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Dig through regulator documents and data.

Lodge freedom of information requests.

Assess clean up plans and reports. Consultant engaged by polluter?

Ask the experts. Universities, NGOs, community groups etc

Have promises been kept?

Long-term advocacy reporting can affect real change.

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Toxic legacy for workers left battling illness from fumes and chemicals.

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YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW

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CULTURE OF SECRECY

  • Unprecedented Australian-wide campaign by media organisations advocating for public’s right to know.
  • Competitors joined forces to call for reforms to protect public interest journalism.
  • Increasing government secrecy.
  • What can we do locally?

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What are they hiding?

Government culture of secrecy

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  • Are waiting times for cancer treatment improving or getting worse?

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  • How long were children exposed during a school’s asbestos contamination crisis?

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  • Is the government serious about extending the city’s public transport network?

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  • Can we see a ratepayer-funded consultant’s report detailing long-term solutions for an erosion crippled beach?

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  • What are the longest ambulance wait times and paramedic staffing levels?

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Freedom (from) Information

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Newsroom-wide collaboration

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  • Utilise beat reporters to identify important issues where information is not in the public domain.

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  • Reporters need to carve out time for in depth stories - particularly in smaller newsrooms

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  • Look at everything - health, education, environment, government operations etc

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  • Produce bulk public record requests.

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  • Keep an up-to-date Google Sheets document that everyone can access to track progress.

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Freedom (from) Information

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Newsroom-wide collaboration

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  • FOI requests - don’t be vague. Keep them simple, focused and specific. No fishing expeditions.

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  • Look at previous FOI applications and reproduce them - this is the best way to test if there has been a change in access to information.

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  • Be laser-focused in meetings - stick to an agenda so you don’t get off track.

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  • Appeal, appeal and appeal again. Denials are common.

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  • Win or lose, publish the stories.

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  • Individual stories have power, but the real power is in the collective power of a series of stories.

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Freedom (from) Information

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Newsroom-wide collaboration

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  • Look for trends in the approvals or denials (eg: overwhelmingly denied)

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  • Applications that were previously approved were denied. Why?

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  • Collect and document your failures and wins. What excuses from the government?

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  • FOI system is clearly broken.

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  • Real opportunity to advocate for change.

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  • Small newsrooms can make a big difference.

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  • When governments hide the truth, what are they covering up?

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Thank you

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Donna Page

Newcastle Herald

Donna.page@newcastleherald.com.au

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