British journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to access government information, according to new research by Jingrong Tong at the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Sheffield, revealing a troubling trend of secrecy across both central and local authorities.

In a series of interviews with journalists from across the United Kingdom, Tong found that Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are facing unprecedented delays, rejections and obstruction. This growing restriction on information access threatens to undermine journalistic scrutiny of those in power.

"The amount of organisations who break the time limit is just par for the course now," said one journalist with more than 20 years of experience.

"Even 15 years ago you could put an FOI request in, put a note in your diary that says you'll get it back by 20 days on Thursday, and you could plan to do a story then. Now you cannot."

Many journalists report that around half of their FOI requests are now rejected, with government bodies increasingly using exemptions such as data protection and commercial confidentiality to withhold information. These exemptions are often applied........

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