Uni mags in turf war

A war of words has broken out between the team producing Sussex University's student newspaper The Badger and their independent student-run rival Fast Like ... Squirrel (FLS).

Staff on FLS have made a formal complaint to university chiefs accusing The Badger's publishers of "anti-competitive" practices and of making false claims to put off potential advertisers.

Distribution of the magazine has been restricted to one area of the Sussex University campus and FLS staff say it is in danger of being forced out of business.

The row stepped up another gear when an article was published in The Badger branding FLS "half-arsed".

Squirrel staff were also incensed when an advert was placed in the local Press claiming official student union publications were the only way for advertisers to reach students.

But the University of Sussex Students' Union, which funds The Badger, denies being anti-competitive, saying FLS's claims misrepresent the situation and are unfair.

USSU communications officer Nick Scott said: "We don't want to be anti-competitive and we're not trying to stop freedom of speech. We have 12,000 members to protect, we have their interests at heart."

FLS says it is an independent non-profit magazine run by and for the students of Brighton's two universities. It was founded to provide "a unifying voice" for all the city's students.

In its October edition, the magazine reported: "Like the unions we shout your voice and defend your corner; unlike the unions we're not afraid of controversy."

FLS was launched last April with the first two issues funded through a city council grant and advertising from local and national companies. Copies were distributed at Brighton University, on the Sussex campus and in bars throughout the city.

Initial discussions about a possible merger between FLS and Sussex University magazine Pulse took place but USSU says the conditions proposed by FLS were "untenable".

As relations cooled, FLS agreed to distribute from only one site on the Sussex campus. Its founder Dan Selinger says FLS was told magazines found elsewhere on campus would be removed by union officials.

Mr Selinger said: "We should be given a fair chance to reach our target audience without being held back by the students' union simply because we are competition."

He accused the union of choosing to maintain a monopoly rather than working with FLS and demanded a full apology for the alleged remarks made to advertisers. The magazine was considering seeking legal advice.

But USSU said it was within its rights to restrict the distribution of magazines because the university campus was private property which it had been given the power to police.

Mr Scott said USSU had made an exception for FLS but it had abused the privilege.

He said: "Every time we've offered them anything they've kind of bit the hand. We don't think they do tell the truth to advertisers.

"The truth is being in FLS does not mean you have access to the student market. We've got an established market who know and like our publication - we have statistics to back that up, but they do not. In a sense we're going for a different market but we cannot allow free distribution on campus because there is only so much advertising to go around.

"Any decisions in regard to these magazines are democratically made but as far as we can see there is no representational structure at FLS and no indication there are actually Sussex students involved."

Mr Selinger says FLS has already enabled more than 100 students from both universities to increase their literary, graphical, artistic and business skills.

He called on the University of Sussex to explain its policy on the issue of student magazine distribution, including exactly who is responsible for the policing of publications on campus.

As the university owned the land, it should be up to it to make the decision rather than the USSU. There was no one available to comment at the University of Sussex.