Briefings to bloggers
Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Prime Minister
The request was refused by Prime Minister.
From: Alex Harris
Dear Prime Minister,
I would like to request the following information under the
Official Information Act 1982:
* any briefings made to bloggers by the Prime Minister or his staff during the month of April 2014.
Due to the high public interest in political accountability and the upcoming election I ask that this request be processed urgently.
I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.
With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.
Yours faithfully,
Alex Harris
From: J Key (MIN)
Prime Minister
On behalf of the Prime Minister, Rt Hon John Key, thank you for your
email.
Please note that although email increases the speed of delivery, it may
not be possible to provide you with the rapid response users of email may
anticipate.
The fact that you have taken the time to write is appreciated. You can be
assured that your views will be noted.
Yours sincerely
The Office of the Prime Minister
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Sarah Boyle
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this requestAct on what you've learnt
Similar requests
Amount spent on cellphones by Prime Minister
To Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services by Alex Harris
Luke C left an annotation ()
I reflected on the term "blogger" and wondered if it was more narrower to specify the names of the bloggers. Doing so may narrow the net and reduce any potential for excluding information.
I think the term "briefings" is somewhat rubbery. It is a term used to describe an official act, e.g. the CEO of a Department would brief the Minister on an issue. I wondered if the word "communication" or "communications" would be a better term.
Another way to frame the request would be to ask whether any communications between Prime Minister or his office to a x person in the x month 2014 exist. If they did exist, then a follow up request could ask for them.
Sarah needs to be careful that any text messages or phone calls from from John Key to a person may be made in his ministerial capacity, and she would need to be clear on how she determined that. Simply using a personal smartphone may not necessarily be sufficient, as the work of the Prime Minister is wide.
Link to this