Features A paper-thin promise

FEATURES EDITORS: Benedict Thompson and Austin Taylor

Megan Ballantyne, Editor, discusses the complex relationships between student papers and student unions

STUDENT papers have been under threat this year, it seems. Both Durham’s Palatinate and LSE’s The Beaver have published detailed editorials about their various issues with their student unions. In Palatinate’s case, they have gone one step further, declaring their independence from their SU. There are a couple of other student papers which are independent of their student unions, namely Cherwell at Oxford and Varsity at Cambridge, but independence is a big leap, and indicative of the severity of the issues with the relationship between Palatinate and the Durham Student Union that Palatinate has taken this step. Palatinate described how, alongside a series of other problems, when their regular budget was cut completely in 2020, this “shattered” their “informal contract with the SU.”

This is not an isolated is sue. Budget cuts are happening to different student papers across the country. This peaked in Covid, with many papers at the start of the 2020/21 academic year being unable to print. Student Publication Association (SPA) figures stated that 49 per cent of papers with a regular print run were not able to publish at the start of the year, and 75 per cent stating they were concerned they would be unable to return to a regular print run again. For papers like The Beaver and Palatinate, these concerns have felt very close to becoming a reality, and cuts and restrictions have continued to close in even after pandemic restrictions have ostensibly lifted.

The background to these cuts, of course, is that student unions in this country are generating less income than they used to. A particular trend in recent years is that unions are losing, or significantly decreasing, their trade and commercial operations. Exeter’s Students’ Guild decided in 2020, after landing a £283,000 tax bill, to hand their commercial operations, such as its commercial outlets in The Ram and Lemon Grove, over to the University, meaning that the Guild no longer is in possession of any commercial outlets on campus. The Beaver found a similar trend at its Student Union, with a commercial income which used to amount to over £2 million in 2016-17 now well below this figure. Without commercial enterprises, student unions have smaller budgets and influence over student life. The move of commercial operations away from student unions is arguably always bound to make life more difficult for students.

Unions with elected officers are much more likely to have students’ interests at heart, in terms of cost-of-living in paricular, than the University or the external providers hired to fill these spaces.

Student unions have therefore been increasingly expected to make cuts to seemingly inessential services. Student papers and media have often borne the brunt of these cuts. During the pandemic, when campuses were empty and the value of print papers in these spaces temporarily diminished, many student papers’ budgets were indeed cut. Many print papers ceased to be produced, with 75 per cent expressing fears at the time that their print run would never return to a regular schedule. And while student unions, like that in Sheffield where Forge Press is based, emphasise again and again that they review budgets year-on-year, many have not seen significant increases since the pandemic, or have faced new threats. The Beaver has had its regular funding totally cut following changes to Student Union bye-laws. In the words of The Beaver’s Aarti Malhorta and Bora Bayram, these bye-laws “pressured successive administrations to consider The Beaver’s funding and to take action,” and provided “funding guidelines, foundational principles, and disciplinary procedures.” and papers throughout the country, is the wasted potential for collaboration. Although we can’t totally guarantee Exeposé’s future, Exeposé are currently co-creating an annual service level agreement with the Students’ Guild, and we have had positive communication on this front so far. We have experienced past tensions over our budget, but with this agreement we are hoping to be able to secure a consistent long-term solution (or at least a solution for the next five years). Even if this regular budget still leaves us a couple of newspapers we need to fund on our own, the combination of regular funding and money from the Alumni Fund means our finances should be in the green for this year at least, which puts us worlds away from the fundraisers and pleas that many other student papers have needed to make.

There are of course funding options available to papers when regular funding has been cut, as The Beaver outlines in its editorial. Advertising is great supplementary income, but at least here at Exeposé, we could perhaps fund one issue out of our 14 yearly issues with the advertising we receive, and a lot of that is because we advertise relatively regularly with the Students’ Guild. It’s not sustainable, and it expects the leaders of student papers to, in effect, run their own business alongside a student paper. One way Student Unions used to fund their papers, including Exeposé and The Beaver was to organise advertising opportunities for the paper of their own accord, but many having long since stopped doing so. One-off funds, like the Alumni Fund here in Exeter, provide us with a bit of income but, again, they’re not reliable and you have to reapply each year. If most student papers suddenly had no consistent funding and had to rely on these unstable sources of income, their print output would significantly diminish, and without concerted effort, could completely stop.

SUs stepping back from student journalism is one thing. But some SUs across the country seem to be taking a ‘have your cake and eat it’ approach to student journalism. The Beaver reported that their SU in 2017/18 had floated the idea to them of having executive management over the paper and delegating editorial roles to students, all while continuing to engage in a series of year-on-year budget cuts. Palatinate have reported that while experiencing a total cut in their regular funding, they brought their idea for independence to their SU, with the backing of 221 members. They described the response they received to this last-resort move as “dismissive”, but later found out that the University simultaneously sent a request to trademark the Palatinate name, built by and maintained by students.

These SUs through such actions display the idea that they want the image and renown of having a student-led student paper, while simultaneously trying to compromise their press freedom and refusing to fund them.

Most of the people involved in student journalism are not looking to engage in a business enterprise or organise repeated fundraisers to keep their papers going. They want to write good, informative pieces which will be shared with the student body. It’s unpaid work which helps keeps students informed about their local comunity, which is in the interest of the student body and therefore, you would hope, in the interest of the union. It also offers writers a huge boost in confidence, and experience in an exciting industry, which, unfortunately, there are very limited avenues into other than through gaining hands-on experience.

Exeposé print at least 1000 copies each print run, and these almost always go by the end of the fortnight, if not well before. People mention stories they see to their friends, and find out what’s happening on campus. In a world where young people are increasingly disengaged from news, and where accurate information can be difficult to come by, our free offering of quality, local news is invaluable, and the visibility of a print paper raises the profile and engagement of the paper.

Though not perfect, we currently have a productive relationship with our Students’ Guild, and we therefore work together on occasion. Our Guild Elections Special was fully funded by the Guild — the goal to encourage engagement in student democracy is mutually beneficial. We have also regularly advertised for the Guild at a fee. We have been able to manage this relationship while not compromising our independence, and it is confusing that more SUs don’t jump at the chance to engage productively with student publications.

The worry, however, is always that, without a long-term agreement, the Guild will attempt to make subtle cuts which will slip by future editors, and set off a gradual trajectory which will lead to Exeposé’s decline. With our Service Level Agreement yet to be finalised we can’t totally relax just yet.

Student media therefore helps encourage engagement in student life and politics, at a time when, participation in SU elections and democracy is in decline.

One of the most disappointing things about witnessing this often hostile, strained relationships between Student Unions

Keeping your ear to the ground

But repairing the relationship between student unions and student papers is also about a change of mindset, not just finances. Student unions have a lot to gain from having a thriving student paper — and it seems many need to be reminded of this.

Joshua Hughes, Editor, discusses the rise of political news podcasts and makes some suggestions

ENGAGING with politics is sometimes a tricky business. Aggressive social media ads and polarising conversations — looking for a news source that is drama-free is generally a difficult task. However, after perusing the different news platforms, one format stands out as accessible, informative (and sometimes entertaining). Podcasts.

While it’s now relatively standard for people to have a podcast, the way they have grown in popularity is pretty remarkable. There is now a wide selection of podcasts documenting news in the UK and across the world yet like with any form of news, it’s important to strike the right balance and attempt to gain insights from a wide variety of shows.

The first place to begin with news podcasts is the BBC. While only recently introduced, the BBC now presents a strong line-up of podcasts, each covering different aspects of news. Newscast, hosted by Adam Fleming, details domestic news in the UK and is useful for an (almost) daily, reliable summary of the news. Americast, hosted by Sarah Smith, is the North American version of the show which has grown significantly since the 2020 election. The show now reports on politics in the US. Another BBC podcast which does a huge deep dive on conspiracy theories in US politics is The Coming Storm, hosted by Gabriel Gatehouse. However, the BBC show which has gained the most notable traction recently is the excellent Ukrainecast, which provides detailed reporting on the war in Ukraine and has done so since the very early days — for those wishing to research or learn more about the timeline of the war, this would be a fantastic place to start.

While the BBC shows are useful, it is good to seek further opinions and shows in order to have a bit of variety and The News Agents, hosted by ex-BBC journalists Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, does just that. While at times a bit much, the show provides daily news updates during the week and is heavily politically focused. With Maitlis’ and Sopel’s experience hosting BBC’s Americast in its early days, they present a podcast that covers both the UK and the US.

Another non-BBC podcast is The Rest is Politics, hosted by Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell. Despite disa- greeing (most of the time) the two present an informative and overall enjoyable listen — even if it can get a bit much at times. Closer to home, another great podcast is Xpression FM’s Politics Unboxed, hosted by Rhys Wallis. It deals with a wide range of political issues and is great for people of all levels of political knowledge.

Overall, podcasts, while sometimes a bit exhausting to listen to, provide a great way to engage with politics and for that matter many different subjects and issues. They provide a useful break from reading articles, allowing for people to inform themselves in a different format, and, if you pick the right one, serve as a great way to fall asleep!