ABSTRACT
All forms of journalism, including comment as well as reportage and observation, depend on reliable sources of information. Journalism dealing with public affairs depends on state information, and all official information in the UK belongs, in the first place to the state. It follows that ways in which the state controls the release of this information determines the nature of journalism in any particular country. In this context investigative journalism can be thought of as a type of news reporting based on official information which has been obtained through unconventional (and possibly illegal) means; or information which has been proactively obtained by a journalist using Freedom of Information legislation in countries where such legislation exists.
