ABC reporters sent to the US to cover US election
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
I write under the FOI Act to request all information held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in respect of the decisions made to send Sarah Ferguson and David Speers to the United States of America to report on the United States presidential election, including (but not limited to):
- any business case or costings in respect of the decisions
- any arguments made for or against the decisions
- past and anticipated expenses in respect of flights, accomodation, additional wages and other expenses for Speers and Ferguson and any required support crew for those staff to attend.
Please let me know if any part of that scope is unclear and I am happy to assist in narrowing or refocusing.
Kind regards,
Gary
ABC FOI 202425-062
Good afternoon Gary
Thank you for your email of 5 November.
We have spoken with our colleagues in News about the scope you submitted and your offer to narrow/refocus the wording if that was helpful.
Please let us know by return email if you are happy to revise the scope to be worded as below. This wording better aligns with documents the ABC is more likely to hold:
I write under the FOI Act to request documents held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in respect of the decisions to send Sarah Ferguson and David Speers to the United States of America to report on the US presidential election in 2024, including:
- (1) US election news planning coverage document
- (2) any document showing anticipated costs for US election coverage by Ms Ferguson and or Mr Speers
- (3) a table summarising submitted expenses for payment by the ABC broken down into flights, accommodation and other and any out of pocket expenses for Speers and Ferguson and any support crew who assisted with coverage in the US.
Once you have confirmed the wording of the scope you are happy with, we will send you a formal acknowledgment email.
If you have questions, we are happy to chat by phone if that suits you.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary <[FOI #12285 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, 5 November 2024 8:01 AM
To: FOI ABC <[ABC request email]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - ABC reporters sent to the US to cover US election
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
I write under the FOI Act to request all information held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in respect of the decisions made to send Sarah Ferguson and David Speers to the United States of America to report on the United States presidential election, including (but not limited to):
- any business case or costings in respect of the decisions
- any arguments made for or against the decisions
- past and anticipated expenses in respect of flights, accomodation, additional wages and other expenses for Speers and Ferguson and any required support crew for those staff to attend.
Please let me know if any part of that scope is unclear and I am happy to assist in narrowing or refocusing.
Kind regards,
Gary
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Dear FOI ABC,
To assist my consideration of your revised scope, could you please confirm:
Re (1) in offering this reformulation as part of the revised scope, does the ABC consider that this information as has been suggested does not constitute “program material or data casting content” which the ABC would be exempt from disclosing (or, alternatively, would be willing to disclose despite the exemption)?
Re (2) is this intended to refer to costs specifically relating to Speers and Ferguson or rather costs incurred for shows involving Speers and Ferguson generally?
Very much appreciate your prompt thought re my request otherwise - thank you!
Yours sincerely,
Gary
Dear FOI ABC,
Just following up on my request - should I take your previous email as formal acknowledgment?
Yours sincerely,
Gary
ABC FOI 202425-062
Good afternoon Gary
Confirming that the ABC's previous emails to you are part of acknowledging the request you made as well as proposed variations to the scope.
A decision on you request is currently due on Thursday 5 December 2024, subject to any extensions of time for consultation or by agreement.
By making a FOI request, you are providing personal information to the ABC. The ABC manages personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy - available at https://help.abc.net.au/hc/en-us/article.... Personal information may be disclosed in the course of processing this request, such as for the purposes of consultation or internal reporting.
The ABC is managing a high workload at the moment, and therefore would be grateful if you would consider whether you would he happy to provide an extension of time for processing your request if that becomes necessary. Up to 30 calendar days can be agreed under s 15AA of the FOI Act.
In terms of your questions about the scope in your email of 7 November (below) and any variations to the scope, the ABC has not yet issued a decision so we are not able to advise what the delegate may decide once searches are completed.
Question (1) as originally worded (and as amended so far) does appear to seek program material / editorial decision making in a broad sense.
Point (2) is worded to apply to the 2 staff and their coverage of the US election in 2024: - (2) any document showing anticipated costs for US election coverage by Ms Ferguson and or Mr Speers.
If you could please confirm are happy to proceed with this scope, the ABC can continue to search for documents:
...... under the FOI Act [I] request documents held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in respect of the decisions to send Sarah Ferguson and David Speers to the United States of America to report on the US presidential election in 2024, including:
- (1) US election news planning coverage document
- (2) any document showing anticipated costs for US election coverage by Ms Ferguson and or Mr Speers
- (3) a table summarising submitted expenses for payment by the ABC broken down into flights, accommodation and other and any out of pocket expenses for Speers and Ferguson and any support crew who assisted with coverage in the US.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
13 9994
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians
and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary <[FOI #12285 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 7 November 2024 8:23 PM
To: FOI ABC <[ABC request email]>
Subject: Re: FOI 062 -- Qu re scope - ABC reporters sent to the US to cover US election [ABC-LEGAL.FID104960]
Dear FOI ABC,
To assist my consideration of your revised scope, could you please confirm:
Re (1) in offering this reformulation as part of the revised scope, does the ABC consider that this information as has been suggested does not constitute “program material or data casting content” which the ABC would be exempt from disclosing (or, alternatively, would be willing to disclose despite the exemption)?
Re (2) is this intended to refer to costs specifically relating to Speers and Ferguson or rather costs incurred for shows involving Speers and Ferguson generally?
Very much appreciate your prompt thought re my request otherwise - thank you!
Yours sincerely,
Gary
-----Original Message-----
ABC FOI 202425-062
Good afternoon Gary
Thank you for your email of 5 November.
We have spoken with our colleagues in News about the scope you submitted and your offer to narrow/refocus the wording if that was helpful.
Please let us know by return email if you are happy to revise the scope to be worded as below. This wording better aligns with documents the ABC is more likely to hold:
I write under the FOI Act to request documents held by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in respect of the decisions to send Sarah Ferguson and David Speers to the United States of America to report on the US presidential election in 2024, including:
- (1) US election news planning coverage document
- (2) any document showing anticipated costs for US election coverage by Ms Ferguson and or Mr Speers
- (3) a table summarising submitted expenses for payment by the ABC broken down into flights, accommodation and other and any out of pocket expenses for Speers and Ferguson and any support crew who assisted with coverage in the US.
Once you have confirmed the wording of the scope you are happy with, we will send you a formal acknowledgment email.
If you have questions, we are happy to chat by phone if that suits you.
Many thanks,
ABC FOI team
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.
This email, including any attachments, is intended only for the addressee. It is confidential and may contain privileged information. You should not read, copy, use or disclose it, or take any other action in reliance of the information contained in this email, without authorisation. If you have received the email in error, please immediately let the sender know by separate email or telephone and delete the email from your system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #12285 email]
This request has been made by an individual using Right to Know. This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. More information on how Right to Know works can be found at:
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....
Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from your system. The ABC does not represent or warrant that this transmission is secure or virus free. Before opening any attachment you should check for viruses. The ABC's liability is limited to resupplying any email and attachments.
Dear FOI ABC,
To avoid the issues of program material in (1), could the ABC advise if it could process:
- (1) any document (including emails) seeking approval for, or approving, Mr Speers and/or Ms Ferguson to be sent to the US;
- (2) any document showing anticipated costs for US election coverage by Ms Ferguson and or Mr Speers
- (3) a table summarising submitted expenses for payment by the ABC broken down into flights, accommodation and other and any out of pocket expenses for Mr Speers and Ms Ferguson and any support crew who assisted with coverage in the US.
In respect of your acknowledgement, I can confirm that I am happy to provide any extension of time that the ABC considers necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Gary