Information newsletter
Issue 10(22), October 2005

Use the Law as a Knife
by Diana Bancheva, AIP

"The flexibility and eagerness of this country to achieve democracy is so touching that I think that you will not need hundred years to get where the Netherlands are after a thousand years of democratic governance." This how Ed Figee, a Dutch expert in communication policies, former journalist, and present lobbyist in the House of Parliament described the efforts of Bulgarian journalists to create a positive climate for development in the country.

At the invitation of AIP, Mr. Figee visited Bulgaria in September to meet journalists and discuss with them problems arising from restricted access to information from government institutions. At a series of workshops, practicing journalists from local and national media discussed the government communication policies, the openness of the institutions, and the efficiency of using the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) in their everyday work. Attitude of openness, transparency of organization, willingness to change, and good knowledge of history are the four pillars of good governance, Mr. Figee said. The journalist has an obligation never to stop informing the citizens about the truth. Ed Figee pointed out that this makes journalists not only agents of communication, but also agents of change.

"APIA is the ultimate weapon to open the door of the kitchen where the politicians are cooking," Ed Figee told his Bulgarian colleagues. "If no other ways exist, use the law as a knife. But don't use it too often because it would become unsharp," the Dutch expert advised further. "Legislation is useful, but the procedure takes much time," agreed Alexey Lazarov, the first Bulgarian journalist to start a legal case after the refusal of the Council of Ministers to provide public information in 2001.
Drawing comparisons of the state of transparency and willingness to change between Bulgaria and the Netherlands, Mr. Figee pointed out that in the Netherlands the Freedom of Information Act was adopted after the society had already acquired the habit of openness. In Bulgaria, these elements are put together the other way around-the legislation was adopted first and then efforts were made to change the mentality of people. "Freedom of information law is an effective tool for changing the attitude," said Vassil Chobanov from Radio New Europe.

"The more you publish, the more you contribute to the change of mind," the expert said to reporters and editors from Plovdiv regional media. Democracy is everybody's possession and you have the obligation to arrange the daily flow of information for ordinary people. "Indeed, we are the voice of the voiceless," Vesselina Sedlarska from the town of Sliven agreed. "But the main problem in the work of the Bulgarian journalists today is that what is spoken out is either an advertisement or an image making," Sedlarska continued.

Maria Neikova, Gergana Jouleva (API) and students majoring in journalism and mass comunications at the Sofia University

In October, Mr. Figee visited Bulgaria for the second time and met students in journalism from the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) and the Sofia University. He taught them principles of good governance, good communication, and good journalism. "Freedom of information is a great assignment for you," Ed Figee said to the journalists to be. Some of them heard about the FOI law for the first time, others had already used it in their writing for students' media. At AUBG, Ed Figee gave a lecture to a diverse audience of students together with Laurens de Man, manager of the Dutch consultancy company VVMZ, which is working with partners from Eastern Europe on social transformation, and Alexander Kashumov, head of the legal team of AIP, the Bulgarian counterpart in the project "Implementation of Freedom of Information in Bulgaria."
"Democracy is a struggle, you cannot just enjoy it. Freedom of information is a necessary tool in that struggle," Alexander Kashumov said to future managers, politicians, and journalists.

Ed Figee was impressed with the work of his Bulgarian colleagues. "Don't give up! It is a permanent fight to make information accessible to people. Work with AIP when you need to obtain information from a closed institution," he advised.

Mr. Figee's closed, saying, "I had so much pleasure in meeting these journalists, all of them with different level of experience but all persistent in their work. The whole society is changing in Bulgaria-politicians should follow that change sooner or later."