BBC invokes journalism protection to keep salaries secret

Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation gives access to information held by public bodies, which includes the licence fee-funded BBC. But it has certain exemptions.

Both the BBC and Channel 4 are public bodies regulated by FOI legislation, but only in respect of information which is "held for purposes other than those of journalism, art or literature", according to Schedule 1 of the FOI Act.

The BBC was asked by four different people, three of them newspaper journalists, for information about the salaries paid to various presenters and the travel expenses and overall costs of certain programmes, including Top Gear and Eastenders.

The BBC refused to disclose the information because it said that "it was held (predominantly) for the purposes of journalism, art or literature".

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which oversees compliance with FOI laws and rules on disputes, ordered the BBC to release the information. It appealed the case to the Information Tribunal, which did the same.

The BBC then appealed to the High Court, which has said that the Tribunal made an error in its ruling, and that the BBC does not have to reveal the information.

It was argued that while the information requested was held for the purposes of journalism, it was also held for other purposes, such as accounting or administration, and because it was "held for purposes other than journalism" it should be revealed.

Mr Justice Irwin said that that argument could not be sustained. "[It] would have the effect that a great deal of material would be disclosed," he said in his ruling. "Information held for multiple purposes, but held other than to a minimal extent for any purpose outside journalism, art or literature, would be disclosed."

"My conclusion is that the words in the Schedule mean the BBC has no obligation to disclose information which they hold to any significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, whether or not the information is also held for other purposes," he said. "The words do not mean that the information is disclosable if it is held for purposes distinct from journalism, art or literature, whilst it is also held to any significant extent for those listed purposes."

"If the information is held for mixed purposes, including to any significant extent the purposes listed in the Schedule or one of them, then the information is not disclosable," he said. "I find that the decision of the Tribunal was in error, and should not stand."

The requests were for information about the annual budget of Eastenders, Top Gear and Newsnight; how much the BBC had paid for the broadcast rights of the recent winter Olympics; and the cost of various programmes broadcast in Northern Ireland.