This article attempts to broaden the theoretical boundaries of journalism studies by re-examining journalism practices in the context of divisions between Western and Eastern philosophies. It looks at journalistic techniques of truth-seeking with particular emphasis on i) the ability to pick up a 'scoop', that is an original story; ii) interviewing as an art of inquiry, and iii) the use of statistics in supporting evidence. By so doing, the authors want not only to problematise the debates between epistemology and ontology within the boundaries of journalism studies, but also see how Eastern philosophies can help to allocate this debate in a more globalised context that can overcome the limitations set by the Enlightenment as a political project.

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The quality of statistical information is a critical aspect underlying the success, or the failure, in fulfilling the objectives both of official statistics and of journalistic inquiry. According to the available literature, the quality of statistics is generally assessed by, and based on, five dimensions: Relevance, Accuracy, Timeliness, Accessibility and Coherence. Such assessment puts the users'/readers' viewpoints in the forefront, particularly when they dealing with statistical information as disseminated in news stories. This chapter is a theoretical approach to the issues involved in the audience's and user's views on the quality of statistical information. This chapter tries first to contextualise and problematise the notion of “quality”, both in statistical information and in journalism practice. It concludes with general remarks about the need for an efficient approach and new methods of examining how quality of statistics is understood in news stories.

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