Features

Midway through last year, one of the world’s oldest and boldest student media publications was closed down. London Student had been in print since the early 1920s and until recently had been representing over 120,000 students as one of the largest university newspapers in Europe. London Student’s demise came from the strong arm of the University of London Union, which refused the newspaper a £54,000 (approximately NZD 110,000) budget booster that was needed to continue production beyond the year. The decision caused uproar among not only the national student population but the general public as well.

Journalism and the face of mainstream media are changing — that much is obvious — yet student media and their importance in regard to larger and more nationally recognisable news agencies is a discussion best served heated.

In a world where the mainstream media are evolving, publishing houses of small local or regional papers are in trouble. Where agencies like CNN or the BBC are the powerhouses of global broadcasting, smaller companies often find themselves experiencing considerable financial pressure. Student media outlets have an advantage here: they are, for the most part, free — and due to different funding structures, they don’t suffer the same monetary stresses that other local publications might.

While student publications all over the world are being squeezed until the pips squeak by their unions, one of the biggest arguments that can be made for student media lies in their merit as training grounds for aspiring journalists. The opportunities provided to would-be reporters are invaluable and need to be recognised. Whether you’re into columns, news, features, cartoons or reviews, as a budding newsperson you have the chance to experiment with different types of writing. Getting involved with your university’s media outfit is a brilliant way to build both your skills and your network. Everyone has to start somewhere, and if journalism is something that interests you, then there is no better place than on-campus media.

London Student had in recent years been a focal point of student movement against governmental fees and cuts, as well as a major campaigning voice for workers’ rights. Despite the paper being a well-loved and central part of student culture in London, the move to reduce funding is seen by many as the culmination of a long internal process of undermining student representation within the university itself. Could it be that the business-minded board members at the University of London saw the investment in a publication that was ultimately given to students for “free” as too great a risk? Or was it more than that? A media resource created by students, for students, will always be easier to relate to and hold more sway over a university’s population than any sort of passive production mandated by the institution itself. Perhaps therein lies the actual risk — a battle for populace persuasion.

While discussing the difference between student and mainstream media, Paul Rutherford, a Dunedin local and self-described avid newspaper reader, posed an interesting question. At 57 years of age, Paul has seen and read many a newspaper and magazine in his time, yet he wonders, “Could student publications be the only truly independent form of journalism?” He presented the idea in relation to the fact that for-profit news agencies have to keep the interests of their main stakeholders in mind when writing and presenting material. As such, whether or not we can feel safe in the guarantee our media are unbiased is a perfectly valid question. Although student media outlets have significantly less national impact than other broadcasting organisations, they still play an important role on a local scale. National, publically funded broadcasting institutions, such as the BBC, have relatively good reputations compared to other, more privatised news outlets, (cough, cough, FOX News Channel). Student media certainly aren’t the only unbiased voices to reach the public, but they are among a small population.

Of course, no forum that allows the youth of today behind its publishing wheel is safe from the non-politically-correct and sometimes controversial material that may be printed. Each of New Zealand’s main tertiary institutes has a corresponding student magazine, and each of these magazines has a chequered history. Auckland University’s Craccum published a feature on date rape in 2002 that immediately came under fire from both police and social workers, who described the piece as a “how-to” for drug rapists. In 2007, Victoria University’s Salient published an article titled, “Top Five Species To Be Wary Of”, which listed Chinese as number three. The feature caused huge protests from the university’s Chinese student body, as well as the Chinese Embassy. The editor of Waikato University’s Nexus was forced to make a public apology in 2009 after printing jokes about incest, abortion and sex with infants. His apology was sincere. Also in 2009, Canterbury University’s Canta sent an issue to print containing an article that declared people with mental illnesses unfit to have their own children. Even our very own Critic has found itself at the centre of controversy; in 2006 the Office of Film and Literature Classification banned possession or distribution of a particular issue of Critic, which, like our Craccum cousin, contained a “how-to” guide on drug rape. With all this in mind, we must not forget that even global media conglomerates falter in their reporting. All too often we hear about another Fox News interview gone horribly awry, CNN becoming more and more infamous for race baiting, or a BBC broadcast that probably shouldn’t have gone to air as it contained controversial content such as an interviewee discussing joining ISIS and referring to combat as “actually quite fun”.

Josie Adams, a veteran of the student magazine scene in New Zealand, feels that student publications are a very important aspect of media and reporting in general as they provide a voice to a younger generation that is often accused of being far too impassive. “The youth must keep the aged authorities constantly afraid of rebellion,” she said firmly. “It is the only way to protect our interests.” Josie is adamant in her belief in the importance of student media, asking how everyone on campus is expected to retain the ability to converse with strangers in lecture theatres and laboratories if they can’t relate to one another on a banter-specific level.

One way that student journalists (and their publications) have an edge over their older, far more mainstream counterparts is that they have the attention of their classmates. Students are unlikely to read a story that vaguely relates to the younger generation simply because it appears in the local newspaper, but with students writing for the students, there’s an advantage. They are allowed to turn to each other with facts and information that relate to their own experiences at university and in life as young adults.

Young reporters have the chance to one-up the older generation, providing front-row seats to the most significant and buzz-worthy stories in their various communities. Infrequently will you see John Campbell waltzing down Hyde Street dressed as a pink crayon in order to get the inside scoop on the annual keg party. Rarely would you notice Hilary Barry perched in Central Library waiting for her informant to relay the juicy details of the latest Cumberland College spooky scandal. Student media, on the other hand, can ask their staff to undertake these assignments with ease. It’s the perfect disguise. Not only can they blend in, but they also have a vast network of people they know throughout different halls, departments, ages and education levels.
Through Critic’s affiliation with the OUSA Executive, all decisions and statements made during meetings can be broadcast back to students. Relationships like this between student media and their universities and unions are of vital importance because board members can and will be held accountable for their actions in regard to the wider student community. Without student media reporting on university politics, students wouldn’t have the slightest clue about what rulings were being made up top that could negatively or positively impact on their own
academic livelihoods.

Media in all shapes and sizes are ever-present in our daily lives as students. Websites and social media are used by most of our generation every single day. We consume so quickly that sometimes it seems like we’re on autopilot, scrolling through news and information so fast that we forget to truly engage. Because of this, others often view our generation as out of touch and impassive towards the key issues of today.
As students ourselves we know this to be untrue, and where passivity may be assumed, only a fellow student voice can rebuff these claims. Thus, it becomes crucial that we maintain our own voice in the media.

“I think it’s vital; I think it’s an important voice at the university,” said Dr Geoff Stahl, a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies and compelling advocate for freedom of the press. Having spent several years involved in community radio himself, Stahl has an expert understanding of the struggle young reporters go through in finding their voice and personal political consciousness. He describes the phenomenon as “a kind of laboratory” within which student journalists will often happen upon quite provocative and political material. That awareness and understanding allows students, both writers and readers, to better grasp the idea of media being a civilising voice — part of a larger engagement with the public. “Student media can contribute to the conversations that the university wants to cultivate and facilitate,” he said. And asking questions of union policies and general university governance is at the heart of what Stahl deems one of the biggest roles student media play: “to be provocative, to be the critical voice of the university.”

Often the other media that you find on university campuses have little to do with student engagement. They are often celebratory and passive in terms of how they choose to represent the university. In many respects, they’re advocates for the institution. Student media again hold an important role here, as passivity is tossed aside in favour of provocation. A student publication may well act as a university advocate, but not in an all-affirming manner, more in a playful and critical one. This is an attractive attribute to potential students as the material they’re reading is honest and relatable — a fellow voice of youth culture.

Adrienne Rampton is a Child and Youth Services Library Specialist who has been working in communications for well over 15 years. “My son,” she began, “is 15 years old and he wants to be a journalist.” Having had experience in the field, Adrienne felt that perhaps her youngest child would appreciate her expertise in advising him to get involved with his high school’s magazine committee. She soon found out that she was, in fact, mistaken. “Apparently it’s not very cool, but you know what else isn’t very cool? Being turned down for job after job because you have zero experience.” She’s not wrong. Like any additional contributions you make to your university community, if you have even the smallest amount of practical experience over another person standing next to you, the job is yours. Too often do students hear of the terror that awaits them beyond graduation: you’ve voluntarily placed yourself in a mountain of debt, you have a bit of paper that says you know something about something in particular, but you’ve never professionally worked a day in your life. It’s the experience of actual work and real-world reactions to your work that will make the impact.

Students, lecturers and media professionals alike hold student journalism in high regard. It makes sense as a significant proportion of our national and international reporters started out working for a student publication. What the media of the future will look like is anybody’s guess, but you can rest assured that students will be a part of whatever it is.