ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two strands of the tradition of social constructionism as it has been used in housing research: discourse analysis and analysis of social problems and policy narratives by presenting an account of newspaper reporting of public housing by the Sydney Morning Herald in New South Wales (NSW) during the 1990s. The nature of housing provision was closely contested between the federal and state levels of government during the 1990s. This contestation was an important element in media coverage. As is the case with many forms of service provision in Australia, funding for public housing is provided by the federal government but is administered through state governments. The chapter is part of a growing body of work investigating the role of language and discourse in constructing housing and urban policy problems. Public housing was a much more important news item at the beginning of the 1990s than at the end of the decade.
