Press Freedom and Globalisation - International Press Institute
Press Freedom and Globalisation - International Press Institute
Press Freedom and Globalisation - International Press Institute
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<strong>Press</strong> <strong>Freedom</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Globalisation</strong><br />
press card. 61 The selection <strong>and</strong> control of staff <strong>and</strong> other inputs is solely left to the editors<br />
who operate within a framework of their own editorial policy <strong>and</strong> collective agreements.<br />
Education <strong>and</strong> professionalising of journalism is another way to improve quality of<br />
fact finding. Most Sc<strong>and</strong>inavian journalists have academic degrees. 62 Journalists in<br />
Sc<strong>and</strong>inavia have had to raise professional st<strong>and</strong>ards due to a highly educated public,<br />
competition, a complex society, <strong>and</strong> the growth in information flows from professional<br />
information officials feeding the journalists.<br />
In principle, the public administration’s documents in Norway, with some<br />
exceptions, are open to anyone. That has been law since 1970. In practice, the press <strong>and</strong><br />
officials of public authorities have many disputes about limitations <strong>and</strong> single cases. The<br />
purpose for openness is to create transparency. The law’s basic principle is that public<br />
administration’s documents are public as long as no exception in law has been made.<br />
Neither releasing of information is restricted to specific officials. 63 A government<br />
appointed committee which has carried out a study <strong>and</strong> new proposals, emphasises four<br />
reasons for the principle of openness: It is a way to ensure <strong>and</strong> maintain democracy,<br />
transparency to check public administration, public’s legal safeguards as well as admini-<br />
stration as a source of information. The first two, democracy <strong>and</strong> transparency, are pointed<br />
out as most important. 64 Documents exempted from publicity are mostly internal<br />
documents, information of a sensitive private nature, competition’s sensitive information<br />
(for instance during tender processes) as well as information concerning national interests<br />
or security. 65<br />
61 rd<br />
Correspondance with Olsen, e-mail received 3 March, 2005.<br />
62<br />
Ibid., pp. 92-94.<br />
63<br />
Statens Forvaltningstjeneste, Norges offentlige utredninger : NOU 2003:30 : Ny offentlighetslov, section<br />
3.2.3.<br />
64<br />
Ibid., sections 4.2.1-4.2.4.<br />
65 Ibid., section 3.2.5.<br />
71
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