Here’s what we learned from the Swimmable Birrarung front page frenzy
Last year, the Swimmable Birrarung project enjoyed an exciting but completely unplanned viral media moment. We responded well, but were caught off guard. Here, Charity Mosienyane explains how we did things differently when the same thing happened this February.
In 2024, during a blissful summer’s day in March, the Herald Sun published a brilliant article on the Swimmable Birrarung. I remember getting texts and messages from people about it – it was a big moment for the project.
Almost as soon as the Herald Sun piece landed, Regen Melbourne was inundated with media requests. Radio, TV, newspapers and magazines all wanted their piece. It was exciting, no question, but it was also overwhelming. We had planned for a single story to be published – but we didn’t expect this sudden surge of interest. The Swimmable Birrarung was going viral.
The whole thing felt like the brightest spotlight was suddenly on us – particularly after working behind the scenes for so long. We knew in theory what would be required of us when it came to talking to mainstream media, but the intensity of the moment and the sheer volume of requests still caught our team off guard. I remember huddling in a room to strategise and get briefed on all the different opportunities by our PR guru, Emma, while I frantically tried to keep on top of all my other funding, reporting and project deadlines.
Given the amount of projects I was juggling at the time, we put Kaj forward for most of the media requests, given he had the most media experience.He delivered a brilliant, buttoned-up appearance on Sunrise and represented the project incredibly well. And that appearance then led to another, even more intense flurry of media interest.
“Throughout the interviews, the Birrarung was centred and different collaborators discussed the roles they were playing in making the river healthy, thriving and swimmable again.”
Despite the natural anxiety we felt around not being able to control the narrative, it was so exciting to see the Swimmable Birrarung project out in the world in this way. The media cycle is intense but we learned it moves on quickly – after 48 hours of madness, the news had moved on. And the first thing we did was debrief on what happened, and how we could be better prepared for it next time. A few things were clear: we all needed to get more confident in speaking about our work, we needed to find ways to distribute the media opportunities among our project partners, and we needed a strong call to action for viewers and readers to get involved.
Then, in February 2025, it happened again: the Swimmable Birrarung made the front page of the Herald Sun.
This time we knew it was coming because Emma had carefully coordinated the whole thing – which started with a photoshoot on the river with several Swimmable Birrarung collaborators and advocates in the the week prior. We didn’t expect to make the front page – but we were so excited that we did, and with a photo that included so many. Within just a couple of hours of the story being published, the texts, emails and calls came flooding in once again…producers from all corners of the media landscape looking to talk about the Swimmable Birrarung. “Hi Charity, this is [insert name] from the ABC, Channel 7, Channel 10, 3AW, Channel 9…”
Only this time, we were ready.
Thanks to the other collaborators being named in the photo on the front page, they were also fielding their own requests for interviews – a fact that helped organically distribute the workload between us all.
On the morning the front page landed, the whole Regen Melbourne team was deep into our annual strategy retreat. And while the attention was certainly a disruption to retreat proceedings, it was so wonderful to be together while all of this was going on. Emma, Ollie and Sarah from our comms team sprung into action – advising on opportunities and approaches as the requests poured in. I was so grateful for the support.
While I set up a quiet space in Kaj’s house (the location for our retreat) to take interviews, our collaborators were organising too – a WhatsApp group including key stakeholders was set up, in which everyone shared which media platform they had responded to and what time they would be live on TV/radio. There was camaraderie and excitement around the moment.
“We collectively need to find as many avenues as possible to make the Birrarung – and her needs – more visible. And media provides one such avenue.”
Throughout the interviews, the Birrarung was centred and different collaborators discussed the roles they were playing in making the river healthy, thriving and swimmable again. Across the coming days Meg and Carolyn from the Yarra Yabbies, Matt from Regeneration Projects, Janet from Yarra River Keeper Association and Rebecca from RMIT were all featured on the story.
Since these moments, substantial work has gone into progressing the Swimmable Birrarung Earthshot. Momentum is building and Melburnians are becoming more and more interested in this audacious goal. The shift is palpable when talking to collaborators across the Birrarurng ecosystem.
Through it all, I have not just become more confident into stepping up to these opportunities, but also feel so thankful to our collaborators and friends up and down the river for all the knowledge and wisdom they have brought to their own media moments. There are always multiple stories to tell about something so generative as making a river swimmable.
While it’s often more comfortable (for me!) to do the crucial work behind the scenes, this experience has taught me that we collectively need to find as many avenues as possible to make the Birrarung – and her needs – more visible. And media provides one such avenue.
Together, we did an amazing job. And one outcome of this year’s media frenzy was the need to develop our messaging and confidence as a collective, so we can share the story of the Birrarung as cohesively as possible, and call on individuals, communities, businesses and government to play their role.
The collective of incredible organisations and individuals around the Birrarung is mobilising, and we’re so grateful that Regen Melbourne is able to play a role in supporting work and opportunities that benefit all of us, and therefore the Birrarung.
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