Debate Magazine, the student magazine at AUT, has only produced four issues this semester after the AUT Students’ Association (AUTSA) failed to hire a new designer for the magazine. The situation left Editor Rebecca Zhang unable to make a magazine for five weeks.
In her first editorial after a hiatus, Debate Editor Rebecca Zhong explained why Debate has been on hiatus. “Our designer is hired at the discretion of AUTSA as they work jointly between Debate and the student association. Ramina [Rai], our one of a kind designer, has taken maternity leave and hiring their replacement was left to AUTSA,” she said.
After plenty of communication in advance, “this process was neglected and mishandled by AUTSA,” Rebecca wrote. “To put it bluntly, when it came time to print, Debate had no designer thus no magazine.”
“Being unable to publish is a disservice to AUT students and to your voices,” said a post on Debate Magazine’s Facebook page on 28 April. “We are frustrated and disappointed by this.”
Rebecca also called attention to ongoing issues with Debate’s editorial independence. “For transparency reasons I would like to inform our readers that Debate’s ability to be a truly editorially independent magazine is compromised,” she wrote.
“As part of our relationship with AUTSA, all copies of Debate must first be approved by our general manager before it goes to print,” she wrote. “While this is mainly seen as a formality, this procedure has the potential to stifle and restrict the unfettered fashion of a student publication.”
However, after raising these concerns with AUTSA, Rebecca was “grateful” to note that AUTSA are working towards putting in place a neutral advisory committee who can help make impartial decisions about Debate’s content.
Neither Rebecca Zhang nor AUTSA responded to Critic Te Arohi’s request for comment on this situation. Maybe it’s because they didn’t have a designer to format their response.