This is a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued on May 27th, 2015 by the Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor in response to a request for review submitted by an unnamed individual who had submitted 118 FOIA requests to the University of Illinois over a 12 month period and who argued that their status as new media prevented the U of I from treating them as a recurrent requester.
The PAC had previously determined that the same requester did not qualify as news media in a determination issued three months prior (see 2015 PAC 33323).
The requester provided new information regarding his credentials as news media, but the PAC once again rejected the claim. The PAC argued that nature of the medium used by the requester did not resemble a newspaper, periodical, or a news service.
The PAC determined that the requester did not qualify as news media, and that the U of I had correctly treated the requester as a recurrent requester.
University of Illinois FOIA Request for Review – 2015 PAC 35187 & 35393