14 | Annual Report 2018 News exclusives given verbally The then Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing had declined to give a journalist information which had previously been given verbally to another news medium. (Case No. 2017-25). The Ombudsman determined that – contrary to what applies to access to documents – there are no written sources of law regulating this question. He therefore had to carry out his assessment of the case on the basis of the general administrative law principles of equality and legitimacy. The Ombudsman found that it could on the one hand be argued that differential treatment is accepted already by allowing the use of news exclusives. You could therefore say that the additional differential treatment in declining to give the same information to another news medium is also legal. On the other hand, it could appear unfair that there would be a difference between the present situation and the situation where the information had been given as documents. In the latter situation, the documents should as a general rule have been handed over according to the Act on Access to Public Administration Files. Both arguments were in the Ombudsman’s opinion legally sound, and the Ombudsman therefore found that there were no grounds for criticising the actions of the authorities. So the Ombudsman reached the conclusion that when a news exclusive is given verbally, other journalists cannot demand also to get the story. Lawyer should have been informed first Lastly, it has to be included that the authorities must always observe administrative rules and good administrative behaviour in the discharge of their duties. And this also applies when they use news exclusives. For instance, a decision or a ruling with direct and not inconsiderable consequences for one or more individuals should not normally be made public without those individuals first being informed of the decision. This was also a theme in the Ministry of Justice’s use of a news exclusive in the announcement of the LTF case (please see above about this case). Thus, the Ombudsman agreed with the Ministry of Justice in that the Ministry should have informed LTF’s lawyer about it before the news media were briefed. The Ombudsman found that the Ministry of Justice’s planning of the course of events was clearly in breach of good administrative behaviour. Consequences of breaking the rules on news exclusives News exclusives are a communication tool which is used effectively in the ministries to communicate the policies of the Government and the minister. But if the legal framework for the use of news exclusives is breached, the consequences may be unfortunate. For instance, in the LTF case it was the Ombudsman’s opinion that the use of news exclusives in specific criminal cases can leave the impression that the Prosecution Service itself considers the case to be of a political character