There’s a quip about student politics that explains that the reason they get so harsh is precisely because the stakes are so low. And, for a while, I used to think that this seemed pretty bang on, because student politics definitely can get unnecessarily harsh. I know because I’ve been at the sidelines when people have been caught in the crossfire, I myself have been caught in the crossfire, and I have, I’m sure many would say, been the source of the crossfire on more than one occasion.
From three years in The University Times, though, I’ve realised that the stakes issue isn’t so clear cut. Yes, the majority of people involved in student politics spend the majority of their time engaged in low-stakes activities, or worse, ones that detract from the activities that matter. But the real stakes are actually really high, and they’ve never been higher.
The higher education funding crisis – as we’ve tended to refer to it in the pages of The University Times – is without doubt the most important issue to have faced students in a generation. Nearly a quarter of the more than 80 editorials published by the Editorial Board of The University Times this year were either about the crisis or referenced it in a significant way. Whether it was complaining that the report from the government working group set up two years ago to solve this crisis has yet to be released, telling students to take action in the wake of leaks to The University Times about the report’s contents (our biggest story ever), or complaining that Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) lacked a mandate on loan schemes (one of several editorials that got us an international shortlisting for editorial writing), we haven’t stopped harping on about it. Because this issue matters.
A loan scheme and increased tuition fees would be disastrous for access to education, and we already have the second-highest fees in the EU
It is not just us: everyone from the CEO of the Higher Education Authority to a state body responsible for quality in education is fervent in their belief that higher education is in complete crisis: we are slipping down world rankings and universities simply don’t have the money to pay professors – all in a country where an educated people and a qualified workforce are both central to our national psyche and our economy. And the solutions being proposed could be detrimental. A loan scheme and increased tuition fees would be disastrous for access to education, and we already have the second-highest fees in the EU.
TCDSU, then, as the students’ union of Ireland’s most prestigious university, has an important platform when it comes to trying to affect these decisions. Whether it is through its involvement in the Union of Students in Ireland or engagement of its own accord, it has stakeholder status. Being its president comes with this responsibility, and this burden. And it shouldn’t be any other way. These stakes are high.
Even on a more nuts and bolts level, TCDSU represents 17,000 students in a university with an administration that sometimes acts like it would prefer if there were no students at all – one where a food outlet is replaced by a Bank of Ireland branch and an entrepreneurship hub. TCDSU has a turnover of €1.5 million, a lot of which comes from the pockets of students. These are not low stakes. They’re actually quite high.
That, anyway, is the perspective that I have come from as Editor of The University Times for the past year, and it’s the platform I ran for the position on. This perspective has enveloped the newspaper so much so that us “holding people to account” has become a sort of running in-joke in some circles. All I can say is that there are far worse things to be mocked about.
Us “holding people to account” has become a sort of running in-joke in some circles
But whether it is beating national newspapers to that leak from the working group, complaining when TCDSU seemed to fail to oppose an increase in fees for non-EU students, or producing unrelenting and hypercritical election coverage, it has always been the motivating factor of what we do. The notion of holding people to account should be central to any newspaper. Newspapers are referred to as the fourth estate of democracy because they are so essential to democracy. There is, after all, a reason that Napoleon feared the newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets. And a student newspaper should apply this concept to the context in which it finds itself in, because you can’t half hold people to account, or pick and choose. Something either matters or it doesn’t. The stakes aren’t actually so low.
What separates a good newspaper from other places where you’re likely to find out about news or read opinions in today’s day and age – social media posts, comments, and a lot of new-age media outlets – is the consideration that goes into the things that appear on its pages. As a rule, two editors at a minimum review everything we publish. In practice, at least four do. In print, sometimes upwards of eight people have read over a piece. And if something is likely to provoke a reaction, or the stakes are higher than normal, there is always a long and protracted discussion. There are arguments, and sometimes we momentarily fall out with each other in the office. But the consideration is incessant and deliberate, and always about fairness and the way to approach something. Often, we know people are going to vehemently disagree, or think that we’ve gone too far. But thankfully during my three years in The University Times, that kind of reaction rarely comes out of the blue. If it had, it would be an indication that something hadn’t been considered properly, or that we were imprudent in our actions.
You can’t half hold people to account, or pick and choose. Something either matters or it doesn’t. The stakes aren’t actually so low
More importantly, not once in my time in The University Times has there ever been a discussion about using our platform to do things we didn’t in our hearts think was right and fair. The hours are too long, and the criticism comes flying so swiftly, that any misplaced sense of glee resulting from unwarranted vendettas would be overpowered by the weight of not doing things you believed in.
On Friday at around 8pm, I closed the door of The University Times office as Editor for the final time, leaving my key in very safe hands. In life, you only get a chance to do so many things, as Steve Jobs said. That’s why you need to make each of them really great, and it’s why you need to believe in them. As a motivator throughout the year, I’ve often told the staff, sometimes on occasions when we’ve been going 24 hours without sleep, that The University Times may be one of six or seven things they remember when their life flashes before their eyes. That sounds groan-inducingly corny, but, then again, the stakes of life really aren’t all that low.
