The Bad Issue: Explained

The Bad Issue

The bad issue. Much to our dismay, that is what we decided to put on the cover of our first issue of Empire Times. It was supposed to read ’The Full Story,’ but as we write this, two weeks into semester one, two of our major articles are still being held up for approval. What we hoped to feature was an exposé on the decolonisation of FUSA, and a series of interviews with female staff about Colin Stirling’s staff cuts. What you hold today, is not the full story.

Historically, ET has been boundary-pushing, never shying away from a controversial or politically-heavy topic. As a team we hope to bring this zest back into the magazine, and hopefully back into a community of students who’s fighting spirit and campus-culture has been rendered dormant by COVID restrictions and the global shift online.

At first, we were confused as to why ET had been somewhat inactive and passive over recent years. Having now experienced the bureaucracy that surrounds us, we understand why. Understaffing, ineffectual processes and under-communication have meant that issue 1 is, in our opinion, kind of bad.

We have watched the other student magazines in Adelaide (On Dit, and Verse) release their first issues and engage with students as soon as Uni returned. We are frustrated that this hasn’t been the case with us here at Flinders.

It is sad that what was once such a notorious publication, was unknown by most of our friends before we began campaigning for our editorial positions. It is sad that a remarkably disproportionate amount of people actually vote in our student elections. We believe that a strong student-lead media is key in fostering campus-culture, engagement with the people who represent us, and turning University back into a place where you feel like you can change the world!

From what’s inside of our first issue, this desire may not be so evident because of our key stories being held up. We have some juicy and important pieces up our sleeves - for now, we will take the hold-up as a compliment.

Anyway, enough with our pity-party. We better tell you a little about ourselves. The team is made up of three editors; Tahlia Dilberovic, Jessica Rowe, and Claire Gibbins. Tahlia is studying her Honours in International Relations, and is passionate about using media to question dominant narratives and why we believe what we do about the world, and about power. Jess is in her final year of studying screen production, and aims to use the incredible power of media and storytelling to help uplift the voices of people, communities, and subcultures in a world where this power is often exploited. Claire is studying her first year of Creative writing and Environmental geology, she is passionate about environmentalism and examining what we can do better to protect our planet. Of course, we all have our lives and experiences away from study, for example; Tahlia works as a Researcher at the Jeff Bleich Centre, and Jess produces her podcast, and documentary projects. But for now, we are just FUSA’s headache, a presence that haunts student council inboxes.

We want to wish you a great new year of student life. May you find joy in your study, achieve your academic goals, and maybe - just maybe - break the ‘two-minute noodle diet’ stereotype of students. Yes, we’re telling you to eat your greens. Thank you for picking up Empire Times, we hope you find the goodness that remains inside, and we can’t wait until we can finally bring you the full story.