Relight My FOIA

My name is George Greenwood, and I am an investigative reporter at The Times. I specialise in using transparency law to fight for access to the kinds of records that can hold government to account.

You can read my reporting on The Times website here. This blog will include occasional thoughts from me on what is going right and wrong in British information law.

Freedom of information is a crucial democratic right. It is a key tool for journalists in doing their jobs, for campaigners to shed better light on issues close to their hearts, and for ordinary people to get more information about how decisions that can transform their lives for better or worse are being made.

But the law is imperfect, treated with disdain by many in government, and often badly enforced. That is something that needs highlighting.

I hope to provide some useful insight from someone with experience of the process, fighting transparency cases though the informational tribunals to get disclosures, as well as in taking those disclosures and turning them into news stories.

As well as my work at The Times, I sometimes help train newsrooms and campaigning organisations on how to get the most out of the freedom of information act for their work. If I can help on that front please do get it touch.