First Minister media interviews: FOI release

Information requested

The number of individual (one on one rather than press conference) media interviews given by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon between 4 December 2020 and 4 December 2022.

Please list these by outlet e.g “The Times” or "STV News" along with the journalist's name and the date. Please list all interviews given regardless of whether these were conducted for radio, television, websites, or newspapers.

Response

I attach a copy of some of the information you requested in Annex A, which is a record of pooled broadcast media interviews conducted between 4 December 2020 and 4 December 2022 where broadcasters either accepted or declined invitations to cover the visit for the pool. A ‘pooled visit’ refers to a visit where one broadcaster is invited to cover an event on the condition any interview or footage is shared with other broadcasters on the rota.

Some of the information you have requested, including a list of media interviews conducted by the First Minister, is also available from the official record of Ministerial engagements, travels and gifts, which is published proactively on a monthly basis and available at this link:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. An exemption under section 27 (1) of FOISA also applies to some of this information, which can be applied when it is the intention of the relevant Scottish public authority to publish the information no later than 12 weeks after the date on which the request was made.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because – in addition to media interviews recorded in the Ministerial engagements publication and broadcasters in the TV pool rota log – no record is kept of the number of media interviews undertaken at Ministerial visits where no pool is in place, including which media outlets and journalists attended the visit.
 

• In addition, please provide me with the number of interview requests made to the First Minister by BBC Scotland, and STV during the same time frame. Please list these separately e.g. "STV news - six interviews".

BBC Scotland: 33 requests for interview with the First Minister recorded since 13 May 2021.

STV: 16 requests for interview with the First Minister recorded since 13 May 2021.

Additionally, records of requests for interview with the First Minister are only held dating back to the starting term of the current Scottish Parliament on 13 May 2021, and the Scottish Government does not hold any record of media interviews undertaken by the First Minister in a party political capacity during election periods.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202200332827 - Information released - Annex A

File type

3 page PDF

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89.7 kB