The same task could take a reporter weeks to pore over paper records. The states deal with this issue in a variety of ways. California's public records law gives an agency discretion to decide the format for releasing information. It may be possible to argue that such a provision applies to a request for release of information in a specific format. It is also becoming more feasible to scan paper documents into a computer and use specialized software to convert those scanned images into word processing files or databases.
Newspapers also can create their own personalized database systems.
Even when an agency has discretion over the format, some courts have allowed requesters to challenge very unreasonable agency action as an abuse of that discretion. Other courts have decided that requesters have affirmative rights to obtain computer tapes or disks. The court ruled that political organizers had a right to a copy of a computer tape. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that an agency must allow copying of portions of computer tapes if the requester has presented a legitimate reason why a paper copy of the records would be insufficient or impracticable. The Georgia Court of Appeals implied that an agency cannot discriminate against future requesters when the agency provides computer tapes to one private entity.