KRED, Unofficial Student Media and the Union: An Opinion

KRED. Love it or hate it, you have an opinion about it. Alas, that opinion is rarely heard in the meetings, or anywhere for that matter except in this website ( http://www.conversationamongtheruins.co.uk/ ) and KUNT. For a newspaper that wants to represent the students, it ends up being difficult to know what your audience wants, what it hates, etc. I tried to figure that out with the studentbar.com, but too few responses. And those who did reply had often opposite desires.

Some people want KRED to be a magazine again, some like it as a newspaper. Some would like to see more humour, others want more news. Some find the reviews good, others think that they can be found anywhere and aren't relevant. Wow, how can the KRED team cater to all of that? Well, we can't, and so we have to choose an audience. And this is where unofficial student media enters. Namely, KRED's supposed « enemies », who represent other student views. They offer an alternative, something which remains important in a democracy. In the end, they aren't really enemies. So this university has three newspapers (a general one - KRED), an opinion based one (this website), and a tabloid (KUNT) Now, I think that's great. That spells diversity for me.

I'm surprised that this website hasn't gone to the Union to fund their newspaper. Seems factually correct, tackles student oriented subjects, voices opinions in an adult manner. For KUNT, I understand why they wouldn't get any funding. While their articles may be funny, they aren't factually correct and don't always satirize the truth. Rather, they target over and over again the same people while not actually taking any action.

But I digress. I wanted to give the truth about KRED, and what can be done with the paper. People still misunderstand many aspects of the paper, how we relate to the Union, and how we create the paper.

Many think KRED is bound and gagged by the Union. Wrong. The Union cannot gag us in any way (it never has, and never will), and is willing to be criticised. But any article that criticises the Union must be factually correct. Now we haven't ran many criticising stories. But all we've been waiting for is for someone to investigate what they feel is wrong about the Union, write about it, and then we can print it. But it has to be right. On this website, the article on smoking where Emma Powell answered questions is an example of what we want in KRED: a factually correct article that concerns the students. So again, the Union does not use KRED for its own purpose. It uses KRED to transmit info to the students. We can bite the hand that feeds us if it (the Union) does something wrong.

As was also expressed, it would seem unfair that the KRED team can edit articles as it sees fit. However, these edits are rare and always involve necessary cuts due to size constraints. If KRED had a website, all articles would be in their original unedited size. Grammar would of course be corrected, but apart from that there would be no edits.

Then there is the question of the KRED team having degrees and how this clashes with using the paper to its full potential. It isn't easy creating a newspaper when you also have a degree to complete. And when you know that the editors (editor, deputy editor, production editor, and deputy production editor) spend roughly 40 hours a week in the office, during production week, you realise this should be a full time job. Something the Union knows is a problem. As KRED will most likely be created fortnightly next year, this will become a greater problem. But we strive to create a newspaper all the while getting our degrees, despite the problems.

Ah yes, and the problem with the name « KRED ». Most people (including myself) will admit that it's a terrible name. Hopefully we can change the name for next year. But only the students can tell us what they want their newspaper to be called.

I would like to finish off by criticising the general opinion that « we can't do anything about the Union or KRED ». The truth is, you can. The Union elections are close, so if you want to change things, run for a position. Let your voice be heard. And vote. If you want to change things in KRED, run for those positions as well (the elections will be in March). And again, vote.

This university is yours. So get out there and voice your opinion.

By Xavier Roger, Production Editor of KRED

PS: If you wish to reply to this article, e-mail xr2@kent.ac.uk , or talk to me on campus, see me at the KRED meeting, etc. I will keep your anonimity if you wish.

Copyright February 2006