President Shane Brogan will bring this argument to Management Board tomorrow on behalf of The Gown editorial team and Gown Trust. Gown management met with Union and University officials last Friday to discuss the ongoing issues between the independent newspaper and the Union, which have caused significant difficulties for the newspaper to continue operating as normal. As part of the clubs and societies review, the Union is proposing to move The Gown from their office on the 3rd floor of the Union into a shared office. The Gown team is still suspended and members have been denied access since Monday 15th March.

UPDATE: The suspension imposed on The Gown from their office on Monday 15th March was lifted at this evening’s Management Board meeting.

There are obvious traditional and historical reasons as to why we believe The Gown should remain in an exclusive office, mainly due to the paper enjoying the usage of an office in the Union for decades. But The Gown editorial team and Gown Trust are adamant that the future survival of the newspaper depends on the continued use of an exclusive office. The internal affairs of a newspaper are by their nature private and confidential, and it is unthinkable to expect the independent student newspaper to share space which would compromise the very essence of its existence. This year The Gown’s current office has been used daily by a core team of 10 members, a wider voluntary body of 50, and a focal point of reference for hundreds of occasional student writers, not to mention whistle blowers, morning, noon and night.

BY CATHERINE WYLIE

You will see from the sign-in file at the ground floor reception just how often this year’s volunteers made use of the 3^rd floor office. As editor, I can confirm that each and every time the key was signed out, it was to genuinely work on the development and furthering of the newspaper, with hours upon hours of work going into keeping the publication fortnightly and the website updated as often as possible (The website has been updated daily for the majority of the academic year). I would be confident in saying that the small space taken up by The Gown on the top floor of the Union was possibly one of the most utilised spaces in the Union, and the most productive in terms of helping students and providing a service, this academic year. Without an exclusive office, but instead a shared environment, I would very much doubt if The Gown could continue in its present form of steadily returning to its glory days of former decades.

A newspaper office is notoriously busy and fast, and can be often disruptive, noisy, untidy, and high spirited. It would be unfair for the Union to expect any club, society or organisation to share with The Gown. Again, as editor, I have been in the office almost daily all year (up until the ban) and can vouch for what goes on in the daily running of the paper and its office. We have archives that go back to the 1950s, we have a selection of books left by editors and reporters in days gone by, we have a large amount of space dedicated to the business and financial side of the newspaper, and we talk, discuss, deliberate, debate, have differences of opinion and generally spend 100% of the time being very vocal. A shared office environment accommodating The Gown and another organisation would not be a productive working space for that organisation due to constant interruptions. The suggestion that each would have dedicated hours of working so that they would never be in the office at the same time is a nonsensical suggestion due to both the nature of breaking news and the total confidentiality expected by whistle blowers, and indeed anyone at all who speaks to Gown volunteers about any issue. To expect anyone to share with The Gown, whether it is on the basis of restricted and dedicated hours is simply unacceptable and would lead to inevitable clashes which would become problematic for sabbatical teams for years to come. It would eradicate any good faith or strengthened relations encouraged by a memorandum or document signed between The Gown and the Union, and as this year has shown, a particularly rocky relationship and bad feeling between the two is very stressful for all involved, and is therefore to be avoided at all costs.

The Gown has had an important presence on campus for 55 years, and has become a widely known and revered publication. Not only does it act as an independent voice for the student body, but it provides invaluable experience for a vast number of QUB students in the fields of journalism, business, advertising, design, and photography. The paper has been, de facto, an acting School of Journalism at Queen’s for over half a century, and has been an influential launch pad for innumerable successful journalists, both at home and abroad. There has been more editions published this year than in any other year, and we see the newspaper going from strength to strength from this point onwards. The success of the plethora of previous Gown writers is evidence that it is a fantastic beginning for anyone who wants to pursue a career in journalism, and an outlet that should be encouraged rather than quashed. Professor Gregson echoed these sentiments at our re-launch earlier in the academic year.

We ask you to put aside any ill-feeling you have for this year’s editorial team and volunteers, and instead focus your attentions on the fact that next year, and beyond, will bring fresh editorial teams that all have one common goal. That is to emulate the enviable successes of previous Gown volunteers who went on to realise their hopes of succeeding in the cut throat world of journalism. Keep this tradition at QUB alive and re-instate the independent voice which sparks healthy debate and makes the Students’ Union feel like a Students’ Union.

The above statement is supported by The Gown editorial team and Gown Trust:

The Trust consists of: