Journalists frequently struggle to obtain information from official sources. Institutions and organisations often find ways to sidestep their requests, ignoring them or flatly refusing to make information available. This sometimes
leaves journalists with no choice but to rely on sources within these institutions to leak the information they need to report candidly on issues.
This unfortunate reality obliges the media in general and journalists in particular to put together appropriate strategies, skills and tools to solve the problem. Building a solid pool of sources is one potential solution. Another necessary skill is learning how to read and interpret raw data in order to extract relevant information.