Channel 4 News Requests to Government

Our Ref: FOI/2009/143

Dear Mr Foomer,

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, which we received on November19th 2009. In your
request, you asked us:

"Please inform me of the number of occasions where channel 4 news has
requested a member / servant of the government to appear on channel 4 news
has been refused or accepted, from the date 01-Jan-2000, identifying the
department in question".

We are dealing with your request under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and we will reply to you within 20 working days of
our receipt of your request. In some circumstances a fee may be payable
and if that is the case, we will let you know the likely charges before
proceeding.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact us.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Admin Team

Channel 4

[1][Channel 4 request email]

Tel + 44 (0) 20 7306 8777

Fax + 44 (0) 20 7306 8351

[2]www.channel4.com

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Channel 4 request email]
2. http://www.channel4.com/
3. mailto:[email address]

Our Ref: FOI/2009/143

Dear Mr. Foomer,

Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 ("the Act"), which we received on 19^th November
2009. In your request, you asked us to provide details of the number of
occasions that a member of government has refused to appear on Channel 4
news since 1^st January 2000, together with details of the individual's
department.

Please note that information relating to Channel 4's programmes is covered
by the Creative Purpose Exclusion (set out in Schedule I, Part VI of the
Act). Therefore, there is no obligation to disclose information which is
held by Channel 4 for the purposes our programming to the general public.

Accordingly, we are unfortunately unable to assist you on this occasion.

Many thanks for your interest in Channel 4.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Admin Team

Channel 4

[1][Channel 4 request email]

Tel + 44 (0) 20 7306 8777

Fax + 44 (0) 20 7306 8351

[2]www.channel4.com

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Channel 4 request email]
mailto:[Channel 4 request email]
2. http://www.channel4.com/
http://www.channel4.com/
3. mailto:[email address]

Our Ref: FOI/2009/143

Dear Mr. Foomer,

Thank you for your email.

We have reconsidered our response dated 29^th December 2009 and believe
that case law is absolutely clear that journalistic information falls
outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("the Act") under
Schedule 1, Part VI of the Act. The High Court recently confirmed the
application of the Creative Purpose Exclusion in the case of British
Broadcasting Corporation v Sugar and another [2009]. It was held that
there is "no obligation to disclose information which [is held] to any
significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature,
whether or not the information is also held for other purposes". This
clear authority on the matter confirms that under the terms of the Act,
there is no requirement to provide this sort of programme-related
information to the general public.

Please note that Channel 4 is not required to offer an internal review for
requests that are excluded under Schedule 1, Part VI of the Act.
Therefore, we would advise that any complaint in respect of the
application of the Creative Purpose Exclusion should be made directly to
the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

Yours sincerely,

FOI Admin Team

Channel 4

[1][Channel 4 request email]

Tel + 44 (0) 20 7306 8777

Fax + 44 (0) 20 7306 8351

[2]www.channel4.com

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Channel 4 request email]
mailto:[Channel 4 request email]
2. http://www.channel4.com/
http://www.channel4.com/
3. mailto:[email address]