Editors’ Letter: Autonomous Boar

The free press is the flagstone of democracy. Being present to hold those in positions of power to account without repercussive fear is one of the main objectives of journalism. There are those who would like to chip away at this freedom and it should be a real concern. Not just to those involved in the production of media, but all of us as citizens.

A publication that operates in the realms of the free press is the Boar, which can print whatever it likes about the University and Students’ Union without fear of redress. So long as what is printed is fair, truthful and within the law, what is in the pages of your student newspaper is at the discretion of the editors. The Boar is editorially and financially independent from the SU which means every paper edition is done at our own expense through our own Business Team’s diligence. The Union respects this autonomy and as we owe nothing financially we are thus able to scrutinise and hold them to account, just as we do the University, individuals and companies which have sway over the lives of students at Warwick.

This is not the case with a lot of students’ newspapers which are paid for, or heavily subsidised by, their unions. Often, there is a lot of interference with newspaper content by officials. It is vital that the Boar maintains its autonomy and is able to continue being an authoritative voice for students at Warwick without interference.

There is a greater threat to the freedom of what is in the pages of the Boar and indeed all publications in the United Kingdom. There are those who would like to dismantle the free press in the UK. In the furore of the allegations, revealed by the Guardian, that News International journalists were systematically hacking the voicemails of those in the spotlight, including those of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, there was understandably outrage.

Politicians and the famous quickly jumped on the bandwagon and the ‘Hacked Off’ campaign emerged with a cast of celebrities which were hard to distinguish from a Richard Curtis film. This support seems a little bit too convenient. Of course those in the glare of press scrutiny would like to turn the lights down, but in reality they are rewiring the system so that they control the light switch.

The future of the free press is still in contention; the final shape of regulation is as yet unknown. The only thing we can be sure of is the risk to this centuries old tradition.

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Header Image courtesy of flickr.com/ col&tasha