Editorial Statement Regarding the Release of SUSU Sabbatical Candidates

This afternoon, the Soton Tab released our full list of candidates running in the SUSU elections. This was in direct response to actions taken by SUSU Sabbatical Officers regarding our coverage. The information was released to SUSU Media and embargoed, although The Tab was not included in this.

Our reporters were live blogging in the Cube when they were asked to leave, as apparently it was a private event. When our team requested to stay, along with other members of SUSU Media, their request was point blank refused. Perhaps we should have secured an invitation prior to the event, but a reasonable request should not have been refused.

We have co-operated with SUSU before on embargoed stories, such as the announcement of last year’s Grad Ball headliner, and we would have co-operated again having stated that we would continue to do so earlier. SUSU’s reaction was completely unacceptable to us.

Through our own journalistic efforts, such as watching the candidates enter Meeting Room 2 (where the candidates were briefed), asking people what they were running for and through following personal announcements on Facebook and Twitter, we assembled our own list of candidates running in the sabbatical elections. We then released this article 45 minutes before the SUSU embargo ended, which we were not bound by.

Judging by the responses we received on Facebook, Twitter and in our comments section, we took the right action. The Tab apologises unreservedly to the SUSU Media departments whose coverage we indirectly undermined. The action The Tab took was not aimed at disrupting SUSU Media’s excellent coverage, rather at the over-reaction of the Sabbatical Team whose inability to compromise and work with us ruined the suspense of an exciting afternoon.

In SUSU’s Union Plan, a document which contains a five year vision for our Students’ Union, point 1.4 states:

Create strong connections with local and national media in order to communicate the messages of students in an appropriate and timely way;

This action by SUSU has shown that the political leadership of our Union is not interested in working with the biggest independent voice of its student body. It is a shame that elections season, typically a time of fun and excitement all across campus, has started on such a sour note. We can only hope that SUSU’s attitude towards the Soton Tab will change and we can provide our readers with the best possible coverage of SUSU Elections 2013.

The Soton Tab will always co-operate with SUSU, as we have done in the past, as long as there is willing on their part to co-operate with us. However, we will never be restrained in our output when it comes to holding our Students’ Union to account.