No Offence is relaunching: ‘It’s about getting people to think’

No Offence, a magazine aiming to challenge student self-censorship by talking about controversial topics students is being relaunched this September. The magazine made headlines last September after it was the banned from Oxford Freshers’ Fair for fears that it may cause offence.

Articles from the first edition that created controversy included ‘In Praise of Prejudice’, which argued that pre-judgements enable us to live in society. And a feature piece on Zimbabwe as a country that benefited more under colonial rule than under its post-colonial regime. It caused outrage then, but now it’s back.

It’s founder, PPE graduate Jacob Williams has been campaigning against an attitude that he describes as “people who have the ‘wrong’ opinions aren’t legitimate, decent, honest people”, which effectively censures students who are afraid of the consequences.

He added: “The purpose of the magazine isn’t to be liked, it’s just to get people thinking about their ideas.”

Instead of causing offence just for the sake of it, the magazine can check the “assumptions that arguments are based on”. Jacob argued that No Offence can help “foster a climate of open-mindedness”, a space for students to express opinions different from the norm.

When Open Oxford (a society to promote discussion and pluralism) was set up, Jacob said: “People were telling me they couldn’t express their point of view and that they would be ostracised if they spoke out.”

The cover from the first edition of No Offence, launched last year

Jacob sees this as “completely the opposite of what a University ought to be”, not because people shouldn’t be offended but because it inhibits the intellectual development of students. He added: “If you can’t try your views against strong counter arguments, how do you know they’re right?”. Censorship doesn’t produce graduates with balanced world-views, but a workforce “basing their decisions on opinions that have never been evaluated or challenged”.

Currently 32 students had expressed interest in writing for the publication, not just limited to Oxford but across the country. Asking him for any sneak previews, Jacob replied that it was still in the development stage but that it would be ‘a little bit more highbrow instead of just causing offence for the sake of it’.