Citizen journalism in the 2007 Australian federal election

The 2007 Australian federal election campaign ought to be remembered for a number of reasons – as only the second time that a sitting Prime Minister lost his seat, as the first time for many younger voters to experience a change in government, , and as completing the Labor party domination of territory, state, and federal parliaments. Beyond this, however, it must also be seen as marking a transformation of the Australian mediasphere, towards a substantially greater role for online and citizen media forms – a trend also observed in the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, but here, with its own, uniquely Australian inflection. Here as there, such transformations did not arise out of the blue, of course – long-established news and commentary blogs from Road to Surfdom to John Quiggin had gained some prominence already, and public intellectual and citizen journalism sites from On Line Opinion to Crikey have been instrumental in developing an alternative public sphere for those who sought them out. The potential of such developments had also been well recognised by some key institutions in the media and journalism industries – Crikey was sold to corporate media interests in 2005, Road to Surfdom’s Tim Dunlop accepted a position in News.com.au’s line-up of opinion blogs, and ABC Online gradually developed a range of experiments in citizen media, including expanded discussion and commentary functions for its readers and a number of blog-style opinion sections involving staff and guest writers. 2007 has seen a further broadening of citizen journalism approaches to the coverage of Australian federal politics, however, and it is possible to point to signs of a marked impact on the Australian mediasphere of such extended citizen involvement in political coverage, debate, discussion, and deliberation.