For citizens to be well informed, it is important that journalists have easy access to information. As government information is one of the most important sources, free access is mandatory. The primary tool in Dutch legislation is the Public Access Act, which gives citizens (and hence journalists) the right to access government data. However, it is crucial that this kind of information is made easily accessible and understandable. It would be unacceptable if things were otherwise. Democracy can only benefit if government activities, at whatever level, can be followed and scrutinised.
In the past 10 to 15 years, journalists have time and again attacked the way in which the Public Access Act functions. It takes lengthy procedures to gain access to government information and often leads to dissatisfaction. Every journalist we interviewed complained about the time it took to obtain information and the quality of the information obtained, where often a lot of information was made illegible. Moreover, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Public Access Act was suspended, under the pretext that public servants lacked time. This measure was viewed as an attack against a fundamental democratic right. Journalists were becoming increasingly dependent on leaks and whistle-blowers, which is a clear frustration among the journalists interviewed. Journalists also use the Public Access Act for very simple questions which entail no political danger. One journalist told us that these simple questions could have been answered very easily via the telephone, as was the case 15 to 20 years ago. The first prerequisite of the Public Access Act is that everything is publicly accessible unless there is a good reason to make it inaccessible – but as it is, things seem to be working the other way around.
