City University Students Union votes to ban right wing press from campus

[iloveeverykindofcat]

www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/18/city-university-students-vote-for-campus-ban-sun-daily-mail-express

As a lecturer in journalism, media and cultural studies, I'm disturbed by this decision. It reflects a current of silencing and hiding dissenting and yes, even offensive opinions in higher ed. This is not how to 'combat fascism'. Poor.

FFS.

Maybe freshers need "mandatory workshops" in democracy, free speech and the Fourth Estate to counterbalance the roster of waffle that encourages such sloppy thinking.

It's scary how fast things are moving in the direction of censorship. At my school we are fighting the culture tooth and nail, but students are increasingly demanding to be protected from 'harm' (you tell me), and the sector wants their money, so...

If you consider it in tandem with the "post truth" thing, it's truly frightening.

Barak Obama seems alive to the dangers. I'm fervently hoping he'll make this a post-office pet cause.

Much the same as when I was at University several decades ago. Student union meetings attended by less than 1% of students to easy for activists to manipulate and pass motions that have no real effect. My students union had policies on Northern Ireland (it supported the IRA) and a whole pile of other things that were nothing to do with university life. All completely meaningless in practical terms.

The one time there was a really well attended meeting to discuss Northern Ireland it became apparent that the mood of the meeting was anti-IRA and the existing policy would be overturned if put to the vote. Left wing activists called quorum and, although there may have been a quorum present, people started leaving before a head count could be undertaken and the meeting broke up without a vote, thereby leaving the pro-IRA policy intact.

I hope so prh but the larger trend towards censorship is very real, and pushing its way into board meetings.

Hey ho, I'm moving institutions next year, we shall see how things fare at the other end of the country.

prh can on to say something similar.

My university, claiming quorate with two students, the janitor and a dog, was always voting on crackpot motions, the rest of us just ignored the nonsense.

This current need to be protected from opinions different to one's own is a worrying trend.

We cannot allow students, or indeed anyone, to be so infantilised that they cannot bear to be exposed to other ideas without dissolving or blowing away in a puff of dust.

Precious berks.

It's the usual left wing virtue signalling: tends to be a student hobby. You have to wonder how objective these graduate journalists will be able to be when they start work in the media. They've nailed their colours to the mast so emphatically that any newspaper editor worth his/her salt should be wary of employing them.

And no, I don't read any of the banned papers. But, many years in journalism has shown me that, unless you are employed to write an opinion column or article, you should be able to stand aside from your personal views and resist the temptation to editorialise. Doubt these students will be able to do that.

The irony! It was the Nazis who banned things they disagreed with and burned books. The University Students Union are acting more right wing than the Daily Mail!

They sound like a very closed-minded bunch, a bit like the journalism then support really.

"opposing facism"?

Are they having a laugh?

Everyone is scared of not seeming to be 'right on', whichever way that is swinging. I bet you'd find they don't actually want ring wing banned, just their contempt of it noted.

WrongTrouser
You'd be amazed....it isn't all students by a long chalk, just a vocal minority. Senates are caving to them across the country because they want high NSS scores and tuition fees.