Jack Straw: FOI should apply to newspapers

Jack Straw: FOI should apply to newspapers

Jack Straw, the Leader of the House, agreed with the former Labour transport minister John Spellar when he said the FOI Act should be applied to newspapers during a debate on the act.

Mr Spellar accused the Independent newspaper of "hypocrisy", saying the newspaper had shown "intense interest" in the carbon emissions caused by ministerial air travel but when he wrote to them asking about the travelling of their journalists and their board, they showed "a singular reluctance - despite their proclamation of FOI - to reveal their own activities."

The editor of the Independent, Simon Kelner, said that an audit was underway to ensure that journalists' travel was in keeping with the paper's editorial stance.

FOI 'should apply to newspapers' (The Independent, 26 January 2007)