SRC Elections - Avoiding Conflicts of Interest
With Term 3 charging onwards, UNSW has entered its annual SRC election campaign season. It’s very likely that you’ll soon see fresh posters appearing across the university, and have posts shared with you promoting the merits of one party over another.
During this period, a significant portion of Noise’s resources will be directed towards providing students with relevant, up to date information, enabling them to make an informed choice should they choose to vote.
Noise has always aimed to be an impartial figure in the tumultuous world of student politics. However, the unfortunate reality is that that world is a small one, and many of the people who have an interest in writing about student news also have an interest in participating in student politics.
In an effort to maintain our impartiality, several Noise editors will be temporarily stepping down during the campaigning period, so as to prevent any conflicts of interest (real or perceived) from arising. Some of the editors in question are candidates in the election, while others are connected with candidates or campaigns in other ways. This includes Marcus Pepperell, one of Noise’s three Coordinators. Pepperell is expected to be temporarily replaced by another Noise editor for the duration, so as to enable the publication to continue running smoothly.
Over the past two years, Noise has published articles written by various current and prospective SRC members, both those with factional alignments and independents. We hope Noise’s ability to be a place of free discussion for people of various ideologies will continue into the future.
While Noise does its best to provide the most accurate information, we are not immune to making mistakes. If you are running in this election and think there may be an issue with something we have published about you or your ticket, please send us a direct message on our official Noise Instagram or email our SRC tipline: [email protected]. Please note that we will not be clarifying matters where any perceived ambiguity stems from your campaign’s own presentation.
