What the MPs' expenses scoop tells us about journalists and FoI

The government insisted freedom of information would not be 'a research arm for the media'. So just how useful is it for news?

When it comes to MPs' expenses, how much do we owe to the Freedom of Information Act and how much to a CD of data leaked by an insider? We would never have found out about MPs' practice of "flipping" addresses without the Telegraph's story, certainly. But there are some details – claims for mole clearance, lightbulb replacement and porn videos among them – that stem from FoI requests made in 2005.

Read the full article by Jeremy Hayes is available on the Organ Grinder Blog on mediaguardian.co.uk