• Journalism: misconstruction and headline-grabbing?

    Conservative welfare minister Lord Freud has been widely condemned for suggesting that some disabled people are not worth the minimum wage. Freud has since offered an “unreserved apology” for his comments, but the controversy, in my opinion, speaks volumes about the willingness of certain journalists to utterly misconstrue a...
  • The poppy does not glorify war – but we shouldn’t be forced to wear one

    Every year in November we remember those who have died in wars since 1914. However, it also seems that every year we have a heated debate over the poppy, our symbol of remembrance. Should you wear one? Is it acceptable not to? Those in the public eye who choose...
  • Media sensationalism has twisted NUS’s failure to condemn ISIS

    The NUS National Executive Committee (NEC) recently rejected a motion calling for the NUS to condemn ISIS. Absurd as this seems, it is not as simple as the press headlines make out. On reading that the NEC had voted against condemning ISIS, I was initially inclined to agree with...
  • Saved by the text: can short loan fines be avoided?

    For most students, the University libraries are a vital resource, and it can often seem that we are not getting much else for our £9,000. When using the library we have probably all been frustrated at some point by two things: people not returning books on time and being...