Freedom Of Information Isn't Always Free

MSNBC reports that news organizations that want to obtain Sarah Palin's state emails will have to pony up a cool $15 million for the information.

Here's the math:

How did the cost reach $15 million? Let's look at a typical request. When the Associated Press asked for all state e-mails sent to the governor's husband, Todd Palin, her office said it would take up to six hours of a programmer's time to assemble the e-mail of just a single state employee, then another two hours for "security" checks, and finally five hours to search the e-mail for whatever word or topic the requestor is seeking. At $73.87 an hour, that's $960.31 for a single e-mail account. And there are 16,000 full-time state employees. The cost quoted to the AP: $15,364,960.

And that's not including the copying costs.

The state says the documents have to be distributed in paper (rather than digital) form because they aren't equipped to redact sensitive information electronically.

MSNBC adds that even with the hefty price tag, the documents won't be available for individual legal review until mid-November -- and there's no saying how long that process could take.

-- Evie Stone

5:25 PM ET | 10-17-2008 | permalink

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