5 Tips for Slashing FOIA Costs (Including How One Reporter Lowered a Records Request Fee from $2,800 to Just $29)
By Rowan Philp, Global Investigative Journalism Network, Aug. 5, 2025
Reporters in many countries with freedom of information access (FOI) laws sometimes receive massive fee quotes from government agencies to retrieve, duplicate, redact, or export extensive public records they’ve requested.
“Emphasize that you don’t want to over-burden them… If something takes less time for them, it means less cost for you.” — Sharon Lurye, Associated Press data journalist
But it turns out that, with a little research and negotiation, reporters can sometimes slash the cost of obtaining records bundles and speed up the government’s response in the process.
Experts say that reporters should not automatically accept large fees quoted by FOI officers, and should remember that these officials are typically concerned with their estimated time burden, and not the cost figure. Also, keep in mind that reducing the cost of your request by reducing their time burden will likely shorten the time until you receive the files you want.
Read more here.