Charles Hastings has been elected Editor of The University Times on the [1st] count, defeating Sajal Singh with 52.19% per cent of the vote.
Hastings, who currently serves as the chair of the paper’s Editorial Board, received 1710 votes from a total valid poll of 2975. Singh, the current Features Editor, received 931 votes, with 284 students voting to re-open nominations.
In his election speech, Hastings said: “Thank you, thank you so much to first of all my girlfriend and campaign manager Laura….second of all to Sajal for putting up a great race, thank you so much. This time last year I was standing in this building and I got some very bad news and I hope this is just a message to anyone out there disappointed by news tonight to “just get up and try again”.
A poll conducted by The University Times showed Hastings winning, with 53 per cent of voters giving him their vote. The poll predicted that Singh would win 32 per cent of the overall share.
Included in Hasting’s manifesto was a core focus on student welfare including holding meetings on mental health and formalising The University Times office hours. The race has also seen Hastings push for a Visibility Editor in the paper who would work to help capture stories from Gaeilgeoir, LGBTQ+ and ethnic minorities communities. Establishing a ‘Letters to the Editor’ program within the Comment and Analysis section also featured on Hasting’s manifesto.
Singh’s campaign has focused on bringing a more diverse team to the paper and expanding team numbers overall in order to better represent all students. Among the plans she put forward was the creation of an International editor, LGBTQ+ editor, Erasmus editor and Ethnic Minorities editor, as well as growing the Irish language team. Also featured in Singh’s campaign was the introduction of ‘One Minute News Reports and More Video Content.’ Singh also committed to taking an ethical journalism course if elected.
Hastings plans to work in close collaboration with the student Disability Co-Op and the wider student community to create more opportunities for voices from previously under-represented groups to be heard at The University Times, as well as increasing the social media presence of the newspaper. With an emphasis on reviving the Irish language, he plans to implement Irish language sections, at every level, in weekly editions.
Additional reporting provided by Lorcan Brierton, Alannah Wrynn, Hannah Kaminker, and Eve McGann.
