Alec McHoul

The Advanced Methodology Seminar seeks to bring together those interested in qualitative and quantitative social research methods for a stimulating afternoon of debate. Plenary speakers Professor Emeritus David Silverman, Goldsmiths College, will speak on The Aesthetics of Qualitative Research: On Bullshit and Tonsils (1 – 2pm) and Professor Catherine Riessman, Boston College, will speak on Narrative Analysis and Bob Dylan: What’s the Connection? (2 – 2.45pm). The afternoon will conclude with a round table discussion on “Getting sociology heard – research methods in the public eye”. Participants include the plenary speakers, plus Yoland Wadsworth (University of Melbourne); Alec McHoul (Murdoch); and Timothy Phillips (ANU) (3.15 – 5pm).

Does a far-reaching Freedom of Information (FoI) regime influence journalistic content? The short answer is - it does. This paper outlines the findings of a content analyses study comparing the Perth based West Australian with the Swedish newspaper Nya Wermlandstidningen. The backbone of the project is the creation of a database of articles using the QSR NUDIST qualitative research software. The stories were reduced to a set of codes dealing with the sourcing of the information in the articles and entered into the software. The most important finding of the study is how different the main sourcing of information is in the articles produced by the two papers. This is based on how the reporters search for and access information. The Swedish journalists use the country’s extensive FoI laws as their main information gathering tool, while their Western Australian colleagues use oral sources, such as contacts and leaks, as their main sources of information. This does have implications in terms of journalistic independence, an issue discussed in the paper. The paper also outlines the main differences in the FoI regimes in WA and Sweden and how this impacts on journalistic practice. Swedish and Western Australian journalists work in very different environments when it comes to access to information. In Sweden public servants act as facilitators rather than gatekeepers when reporters ask for documents. Oral requests to access documents is the norm and the system is very fast usually providing same day access. In WA the opposite situation is true. The FoI system is cumbersome and slow, and as the study discussed in this paper shows, this has an impact on the journalistic product.