Resources for media

Welcome to the section of our site designed to provide 'one stop shop' access to all our resources for members of the media, and others who wish to write or talk about the activities of the Scottish Information Commissioner.

About the Commissioner

Visit the Commissioner's biography, find out more about her duties and obligations, strategic and operational plans, and the Scottish Information Commissioner's Team.

News and events

In addition to this resources section, the news section of this website includes details of 'Inform', the Commissioner's bimonthly newsletter, news releases, the events diary, and contact details of the media team.

Subscribe to our News RSS Feed to have details of these sent directly to your own computer. You can also sign up to our other news feeds for new decisions and new reports and publications.

If you just want to subscribe to the newsletter, click here to Sign up.

Video and audio download library

Visit our video and audio libraries to access and download copies of video and audio clips, covering a range of topics. New audio and video content will be distributed via the News RSS Feed, as it is published, or can be accessed via the links in the libraries. You are free to re-use downloads from this site for journalistic purposes.

Media campaigns

Find out about current and recent campaigns.

Read some examples of journalists using FOI to investigate and report stories in the media.

Image library

Scottish Information Commissioner Image Library.

If you cannot see a photo to suit your needs, please contact the Media Team - contact details below.

Using the Commissioner's logos

Download correct versions of the Commissioner's logo - click here to see the Commissioner's logo library.

There are a range of different logos to suit different applications. If you cannot see a logo to suit your needs, please contact the Media Team.

Visual Identity Guidelines - it is important that you use the Commissioner's logo properly. The Commissioner has produced Visual Identity Guidelines.

If you have any queries or concerns about using our logos, please contact the Media team - contact details below.

Briefings and guidance

There is a wide range of resource material available on the website, on FOI and the EIRs, and the work of the Commissioner:

Decisions database - every decision issued by the Commissioner is published in this searchable database.
Briefings and guidance on the FOI Act and the EIRs - guidance on exemptions and key concepts, the EIRs, the Commissioners' duties and procedures.
Access to the Commissioner's reports and publications, including recent research reports and submissions to the Government and Parliament.
Guidance on making your own requests, including information on your rights, and a handy to making a request.

FOI Training

It is possible to arrange on-site training from the Commissioner's Media Team, on how to use the FOI Act effectively and responsibly. We would, ideally, like to be able to accept all such requests, but the Commissioner's Media Team is very small, and we have to make a decision about the best use of our organisation's resources. Therefore, we must consider all training requests on a case by case basis.

When considering requests from the media for training we priorities those which allow us to reach as wide an audience as possible. This could mean events which reach more than one organisation, or are likely to attract a larger number of trainees. We do, however, try to respond to requests equitably across all media and areas of interest.

You can also download recent training presentations here, and we are re happy to answer any specific questions by email or telephone.

Briefing presentation - FOI and the Media (PowerPoint slides and notes - 2.62MB)

Contact us

The Commissioner's media team is available to provide support and assistance:

Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: media@itspublicknowledge.info

If your enquiry is urgent and the office is closed, please call our out of hours media mobile number on 07976 511 752.