There is a very intense culture of secrecy in Britain that hasn’t yet been dismantled. What passes for transparency here would serve any secret society well. – Heather Brooke
There’s a lot of hand-wringing going on about the death of journalism and particularly the death of investigative journalism. What I see is that there is more need than ever to have experienced information processors – people who can look through this mass of data. – Heather Brooke
People are used to getting a lot of information quickly, and they’re used to being quite empowered as consumers, and they go to governments expecting a similar treatment; they want to find data and they want to influence events quickly, and yet they come into this brick wall. – Heather Brooke
Newspapers are not free and they never have been. They can appear to be so, but someone, somewhere is covering the costs whether that is through advertising, a patron’s largesse or a license fee. Advertising is no longer subsidising the industry and so the cost must fall somewhere – why not on the people who use it? – Heather Brooke
I’ve written for ‘The Times’ because they have valued what I do enough to pay me. The ‘New Statesman’ magazine also asked me to write an article, but they didn’t want to pay me anything. To me, that shows how much they value quality journalism. – Heather Brooke
I’ve always worked on the fringe of the British press establishment, carving out this niche for myself. – Heather Brooke
What the interconnected age in which we live allows us to do is instantly connect with each other. – Heather Brooke
We pay a lot for our court service, but it’s not enough. Courts are under-resourced, which leads to delayed justice – particularly in criminal courts. – Heather Brooke
In Britain, it’s bred into you, the idea that you can’t really change anything, so why bother. When I went to school in America, it was the total opposite view – you, as an individual, can change anything and everything. It’s how you’re raised. – Heather Brooke
Public relations is at best promotion or manipulation, at worst evasion and outright deception. What it is never about is a free flow of information. – Heather Brooke
There’s not a self-regulating group of nice fair-playing people in politics. There are a lot of dodgy people in politics. – Heather Brooke
Slightly embarrassing admission: Even when I was a kid, I used to have these little spy books, and I would, like, see what everybody was doing in my neighborhood and log it down. – Heather Brooke
I’m a freedom of information campaigner, so obviously I support the cause of Wikileaks. – Heather Brooke
It used to cost money to disclose and distribute information. In the digital age it costs money not to. – Heather Brooke
I know people don’t like America very much, but the one thing it’s very good on is local government. – Heather Brooke
Traditional publishers require an author to submit a manuscript six months in advance, and if pressed, no later than two or three. – Heather Brooke
The way the Establishment deals with people like me is to ignore them. When you become unignorable, they will try to smear you, and that’s what I feared for a long time. Now I have somehow vaulted into this space where it’s difficult for someone to smear me because it would look as though they were being vindictive and spiteful. – Heather Brooke
You can’t hope for a better result as a campaigner than to have the prime minister announce a major policy change within 48 hours of your documentary. – Heather Brooke
The speed with which WikiLeaks went from niche interest to global prominence was a real-time example of the revolutionizing power of the digital age in which information can spread instantly across the globe through networked individuals. – Heather Brooke
When I was 26 or 27, I gave up journalism. I came to England after my mom died, to let serendipity take its course. And I just found myself back in journalism again. – Heather Brooke
In America, you have the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act. You’ve got drones now being considered for domestic surveillance. You have the National Security Agency building the world’s giantest spy center. – Heather Brooke
If you really believe in a cause, let the cause speak for itself. And if you, by your personality, are damaging that cause, if you really believe in it, you step aside. – Heather Brooke
Britain’s legal structure is basically the same as in feudal times: laws are written for the elite. – Heather Brooke
