Last
updated: 28/11/05
Spark
Frozen
Spark,
the Reading University student newspaper had its accounts frozen by
the Reading University Students' Union (RUSU) after the paper’s
editor, Gavin Whenman, was approached by the union’s Vice President
Development, Nick Smith, over an alleged breach of union policy.
Mr Smith
had decided that an article in the next, as yet un-issued, copy of the
paper conflicted with union rules and would a cause ‘significant
financial loss to the Union.’ The article, according to Mr Whenman,
contained reference to ‘The Arches’ a local Jazz Club.
Mr Whenman said in a statement to The National Student, “The
article, contained in the Arts section of the paper, briefly mentions
‘The Arches’ a Jazz venue in Reading. The Union does not
offer jazz and so [I] decided to let the article through. The Vice President
Development [Mr Smith] disagreed with this decision. Ellie Mills, one
of the section editors for Arts, then discussed this with the Editor
and agreed to remove the reference. Mr Smith then entered the office
and ordered her not to, claiming to have a better solution.”
The following day that ‘better solution’ was offered to
the Editor. Mr Whenman said, “The Spark account would
be frozen, meaning no more editions could be printed, until a new ‘Editorial
Contract’ was signed.”
RUSU President Dave Lewis wrote to Mr Whenman stating, ‘The mandate
and role of Editor is an extension of the mandate and role of the elected
trustees of RUSU,’ and that, ‘the account for Spark
has been frozen, meaning that no further editions of the paper can be
published.’
Further to this, the letter went on to state that Mr Whenman was not
to approach Mr Smith until ‘at least the end of term’ and
that, ‘Another officer will check the newspaper until the end
of term.’
This was providing that Mr Whenman signed a contract which bound him
to the union’s policies.
Mr Whenman said that he would not sign the contract, explaining, “this
contract would make Spark an RUSU propaganda vehicle.”
“We would be unable to question Union policy or actions, as the
Executive could then remove the article on a whim. I am therefore not
signing it until alterations have been made to reflect the fact that
whilst the Executive must be able to remove articles that are libellous
or in breach of the law, as RUSU would be sued under such circumstances,
they must not be allowed to remove any articles which fall outside those
categories without prior consent of the Editor. To sign the contract
in its current state would mean the loss of Spark's editorial
independence.”
