This book is a definitive guide to using Right to Information (RTI) or Freedom of Information (FOI) or Access to Information (ATI) for journalists, journalism students, social activists, researchers and concerned citizens. In the age of fake news, the smart quip on Twitter, the cheap shot, the put-down, the hyperbolic rant that passes for reportage, this book shows how effective use of the RTI can be a bedrock for investigative journalism and for speaking truth to power.
The volume:
• Presents a comprehensive history of transparency laws across the world;
• Includes pioneering stories from the field that map how ideas were conceived, how questions were framed, how RTI applications were filed, how those were followed up, how the information was processed into a news story and what their impact was;
• Shows how to write stories beyond the classical inverted pyramid -- who, why, what, where, when and how;
• Lists attempts to make the laws ineffective;
• Is written by one of the pioneers in the field.