Launched by a student-led grassroots campaign, Noise is UNSW’s newest independent on-campus publication.
Publishing its first editorial on March 6, 2024, the paper defines itself as “run entirely by and for students”. In addition to informing “students of matters they have a right to know about”, Noise is committed to following “a decades-long tradition of underground student journalism in protest of institutions that rely on secrecy and deception to act”.
This mission statement is a direct challenge to funding cuts and veto controls enacted by UNSW’s student union Arc to the University’s existing student paper, Tharunka. Amidst realisations that Tharunka’s name was stolen from a Central Australian Indigenous language and does not mean “message stick” as its founders intended, the Chair of Arc’s Board Arthy Makunthan requested a “pause” in Tharunka’s activity at the end of last year.
These concerns coincide with proposals to change the name of the University of Wollongong’s student publication Tertangala, originating from its time as a satellite campus of UNSW and sister publication to Tharunka.
The Board’s decision has resulted in Arc defaulting on promises to hire new Tharunka editors in 2024 and a “project officer” to advise name changes to the publication. The outlet announced on its Instagram page today that while it is “not taking pitches or article ideas”, Tharunka “will be back soon, and we can’t wait to show you our new look!”
Consequently, Noise’s editors believe “students should turn to Noise where they feel their voice has been suppressed by Arc or UNSW”, or if they “wish to write about Arc”. They have also implored their student union to “avoid using the paper’s [Tharunka’s] original name without gagging student journalism.”
In response to allegations that Arc’s marketing executives have used their veto powers to “censor criticism of their initiatives, suppress victim-survivors of sexual harassment trying to speak up, and overwork and underpay staff”, Noise’s coverage has three primary focuses going forward:
- Arc’s unethical spending over recent years.
- Reports of sexual assault/harassment that were allegedly mishandled.
- The mass defunding of UNSW’s collectives and societies.
Honi Soit will continue to follow Noise’s aims “to question and scrutinise Arc’s initiatives so that transparency and accountability may be demanded of the Arc Board and its corporate executives”.
