Inundated by the Audience: Journalism,Audience Participation and the 2011 Brisbane Flood

Abstract

Following the Brisbane flood in 2011, Seven's breakfast television program Sunrise launched a partnership with the Queensland government called ‘Operation Bounce Back’. The initiative called on skilled tradespeople to volunteer for the rebuilding effort, and extended Sunrise's representations of audience participation. In this article, we examine Operation Bounce Back in relation to different accounts of audience participation. We look at the interaction between Sunrise and the government in the management of Operation Bounce Back, and draw on both Sunrise's representations of the program and documents obtained under Right to Information provisions. The case provides the basis for considering the role of journalism in managing representations of public and audience participation.