Comments to ABC websites
Dear Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
I would like information on the total volume of user/reader comments to ABC websites between 1999-2000 and 2011-2012.
I would like to know separate figures on how many comments were received, and how many were published.
I would like these amounts given on an annual basis.
If possible I would further like the number of comments to different parts of the ABC website specified (eg to News websites, the Drum etc.)
I note that this request pertains to academic research about online political communication in Australia.
Thanks for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Jason Wilson
Please see the attached in relation to your recent FOI request.
Regards
[1]ABC Judith Maude
Head Corporate Governance
P +61 2 8333 5316 E [2][email address]
M 0412 898 657 F +61 2 8333 5480
[3]http://abc.net.au/corp/enter/img/brandsi...
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Dear Judith,
Thanks for your reply, and further information.
To clarify, I would like to restrict my interest to the following websites
- The "ABC The Drum" websites - The Drum and The Drum unleashed when it was operating under a separate masthead.
- ABC Online's opinion websites prior to the launch of The Drum.
I'd like to see any documents which report on
- Traffic to these websites
- Comments to these websites
I'd like as much as is available in this regard. That is, all reporting on traffic and comments to The Drum, and as much as possible on ABC Online's opinion site.
My initial request was for information concerning the entire span of those years - so 1999 to 2011. So as much as you can provide from the history of those websites is being requested in this instance.
To clarify once again - the purpose of this request is academic research on the expansion of citizen opinion, and the role of media organisations in providing venues for it.
Jason Wilson
Dear Dr Wilson
Please see the attached in relation to your recent FOI request.
Regards
[1]ABC Judith Maude
Head Corporate Governance
P +61 2 8333 5316 E [2][email address]
M 0412 898 657 F +61 2 8333 5480
[3]http://abc.net.au/corp/enter/img/brandsi...
-
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
The information contained in this email and any attachment is confidential
and may contain legally privileged or copyright material. It is intended
only for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended
recipient of this email, you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute
or copy this email or any attachments. If you have received this message
in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email from
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References
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2. mailto:[email address]
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Dear Judith,
I'd like to narrow my request.
If possible I would like to recieve any and all reports and documents detailing
(a) Comments recieved by and moderated for The Drum website
(b) Internet traffic to The Drum website.
I hope that this will sufficiently narrow the request.
Yours sincerely,
Jason Wilson
Michael Cordover left an annotation ()
Judith Maude is right that you cannot compel, by FOI, an agency to produce a report of information. You can only compel the production of documents that already exist.
Despite this, I suspect that the ABC is likely to be willing to provide figures sites like The Drum. It'll probably help to provide URLs for those sites you're after.
If you wanted to try to compel them you could ask for the comments themselves - these are 'documents' within the meaning of the FOI Act - but they would likely reject this request as an unreasonable deviation of ABC resources.
I find it a little hard to believe there aren't reports *somewhere* on these figures but this is the issue with FOI. Unless you can identify the document you can't get it, and you can't identify the document without the document having been published (well, sometimes anyway).
Good luck, and if you run into a wall hit me on twitter @mjec. I have a brother on the ABC Advisory Council who might be able to help/find a good contact.