A safe space for ALL students

One of the Boar‘s biggest assets is that we are financially and editorially independent from the Students’ Union and the University. However, we do our best to work closely with them, along with many societies and individuals, in order to publish accurate and informative articles.

For example, in the News section, we strive to gain comment from all interested parties, making sure that our facts are checked (and amended if they are found to be wrong) and ensuring that we maintain a high standard to represent our esteemed reputation. Already this year we have exposed the Maryam Namazie scandal, the safety of students on the new shared space roads and the reporting of students abroad following the Paris attacks. We are one of the only organisations on campus that are fearless enough to investigate and write such material, and we have been holding these institutions to account for over 40 years.

Having said that, as pointed out in a recent article written by Connor Woodman, Editor of the Warwick Globalist, we have recently made some factual mistakes in one of our Comment articles. I sincerely apologise to anyone negatively affected by the inaccuracies in this article. Having spoken to both Danielle and Isaac Leigh, president of the SU, we have made some positive inroads and are going to have the article re-written in light of these mistakes in order to atone for our earlier errors.

In response to this, Isaac said: “While there were factual inaccuracies in the article, we represent the students who work incredibly hard to produce fortnightly publications, and would rather work constructively with writers rather than ‘call them out’ and seek apologies from them.”

Nevertheless, I actually hugely appreciate what Connor has said because it is also important that we are held to account if we make mistakes. We aren’t going to shy away from them, and it’s clear that we made some lapses in judgement over the past few weeks. We’re currently looking at what went wrong, doing our best to rectify our errors, and using the situation positively to improve the way we work. If anyone spots a mistake, I encourage you to contact me (editor@theboar.org) to discuss any issues and work out a way to move forward. We are a very open organisation and I am happy to honestly discuss how we can do better.

I sincerely apologise in advance to anyone negatively affected by the inaccuracies in the article.

It is our endeavour to create a safe space for ALL students in the hope that they will trust us to give them the best opportunity to speak to the Warwick community. One of the bastions of this ambition is the Comment section, which gives a free environment for any Warwick student to write on an issue that they are passionate about. These opinions are not always widely-held or popular, but I am exceptionally proud of the work that we do on this campus, to engage students enough to write about what they believe in. This year, we have already seen exceptional articles on valuing consent, alternative career choices and the safety of campus.

In light of this, while I willingly apologise for any factual errors we may have published, I cannot apologise for publishing a student’s opinion, and we will continue to provide a safe space for these in the Comment section. However, what must be made clear is that while it is our job to be a mouthpiece for student opinion, Comment articles do not reflect the views of the publication and therefore it must be stressed that the opinion of the individual is not synonymous with those of the Boar as a whole or the Editorial Board.

I feel that it is important to respond to one of Connor Woodman’s other criticisms, in which he refers to an insensitive article concerning a mature student. The article he is referring to was retracted, an apology was delivered to the relevant persons, and I published a public apology in the paper. We are students who make mistakes, and the issue was dealt with sensitively and professionally.

While it is our job to be a mouthpiece for student opinion, Comment articles do not reflect the views of the publication…

The Boar holds no bias against the Students’ Union. As mentioned earlier, the opinions of writers published in our Comment section are in no way reflective of those on the Editorial Board. In recent years we’ve built more bridges with the SU and Sabbatical Officers than ever before, and we work together on the understanding that we report unbiasedly on their activities. We have met extensively with half of the sabbatical team already this term to discuss their priorities and are continuing positive conversations with president, Isaac Leigh, to develop this conversation further. While we may publish the opinions of students who are critical of the SU, we also share their positive work, such as the recent articles about the ongoing Stagecoach conversation and changes to SU democracy.

It is interesting that Connor mentions that we should spend less time writing inaccuracies and more time tackling the bigger conversations on campus. I believe this is something we have exceptionally succeeded in doing. In the last year we’ve reported on everything from the new Warwick logo  to the Senate House protest, which have won us awards and even been picked up by several national publications. We have seen engagement increase and more students write great stories for us. We’re proud to publish the massively varied opinions of students at Warwick University, and hope that Connor continues to use us as a mouthpiece for his own views, as he has in the past (you can read his articles here, here and here).

The only way that we can publish a range of opinions is if students give them to us, so I encourage everyone to write responses.

At the same time, I think it is important to note the great work that the Globalist, Cobalt, RaW, Warwick TV, BFT Film and all the other film and media societies do on campus. I know how hard it is to do your job, and how many people are so supportive of you, so keep up the great work. Independent media is one of the last strongholds that students have to voice their views and long may it continue to prosper at this university and beyond.

To conclude, I apologise for any editorial mistakes, but am still proud of the work that we do. We have 15 sections, 60 students on our Editorial Team, and numerous writers who all work hard to put out one of the best student newspapers in the country, as Connor kindly noted. Every fortnight, we go through nearly 40,000 words of content and I hope it’s clear that we try to deliver the best paper we can. The only way that we can publish a range of opinions is if students give them to us, so I encourage everyone to write responses, and let us share them, which we will never be afraid to do.