Has The Badger been culled?

The Sussex University student paper has stopped being printed. And the editorial oversight of the whole process is being reviewed. Is The Badger dead?

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It’s no secret that over the past ten years, newspaper readership has been booming online while the percentage of people preferring a good ol’ fashioned hard copy of the news has been plummeting. Stats from the Office for National statistics found that as of August 2013, 55 percent of Brits read news online while only 47 percent still bothered to buy a newspaper. This is only adults; stats regarding us students will, no doubt, show an even higher percentage of digital readers and a lower percentage of traditional-paper- lovers. After all, who’d pay £1 for a paper when that precious quid COULD buy you a shot at Digital on a Tuesday, or 4 energy drinks at co-op? Who needs a paper when you already have a Macbook?

These trends have meant that many printed publications have had the chop in recent years, and Sussex may be joining the list. The Badger “cull” seems to have sprung mainly out of “complaints made at the end of 2013”, with the offending articles involving students complaining about the examinations here at Sussex. That’s right, the SU seem to be in a fantasy world where they just can’t cope with us having any negative opinions towards them (it all seems very ‘1984-style-press-censhorship’-y). The Students Union have officially stated that they are reviewing the publication of The Badger.

But the students union re-assure us that “The Badger continues to create content on a number of topics that you can read on their website”. Inspection of said website reveals that the top 5 ‘popular’ articles are all between 2 months and one year old: The Badger online is LITERALLY old news.

As if that weren’t enough, a seasoned member of the Badger team posted in the Facebook group for writers, calling out to third years: “If you’ve ever wanted to write anything for The Badger then get on it now! There are only a finite number of issues left.” The evidence is all there: time may well and truly up for The Badger. Our deepest sympathies.

But fear not, The Tab Sussex will continue to produce for all your needs.