I worked both as a journalist and a ministerial adviser in the days before freedom of information legislation was introduced. A person with access to documents considered secret has a lot of power when dealing with journalists and the media. Journalists are always on the lookout for documents that are secret and not in the public in domain. Getting their hands on such documents provides them with exclusives that will get them on to the front page or raise their profile. This gives the PR person, spin doctor, ministerial adviser or whoever the power to use the selective leaking of documents to generate a particular response. This power is used in the wrong manner which I have seen happen.