Keble say no to Cherwell
Keble became the second college this term to cancel its subscription to Cherwell, following a JCR meeting on Sunday. JCR President, Matthew Lavin, speaking to The OxStu, said: "After a succession of mistakes, (for which no proper apologies were given) and gross editorial misjudgements, Keble JCR felt that the only way to effectively highlight our discontent was by removing our subscription. Cherwell is not a vehicle for any person's private political agenda and the paper should retain its editorial independence." He added that the action was to show disapproval rather than cause damage to the paper. The JCR motion, which passed with 25 votes in favour and 14 against, stated that "given the lack of other means of holding the editorial staff to account, desubscription would ensure that the board of directors fully acknowledge the severity of the situation." The motion resolved to desubscribe from Cherwell for the duration of Trinity 2004, however there is to be an emergency JCR meeting this week to discuss the matter further, after some discontent was percieved within the JCR. Cherwell told The OxStu: "Several offers have been received from JCR members wishing to pay subscription to Cherwell for the whole college. It is unfortunate that Cherwell was not informed of any discontent or motions to desubscribe prior to the meeting. Consequently, no suitable defence on our part was heard which could have prevented misrepresentations of Cherwell during the meeting." On the same day, a motion to write a letter of complaint to Cherwell was brought to Balliol JCR. An amendment was then passed, to desubscribe from the newspaper altogether. The JCR, however, voted against the subscription cancellation. The latest developments follow events in Wadham SU, who voted to cancel their subscription to Cherwell last week, and are due to hold a referendum on Thursday to establish whether they will resubscribe to the newspaper.
26th Feb 2004