Factional ties raise questions over student publication appointments
Following the overturning of an election and a fraught appointment process, editors for the University of Adelaide’s prestigious student magazine have been officially selected for what may be the publication’s final year.
Construction management students Kavya Ganapathy, Akshitha Ramadoss and Pradeep Sundaramurti Ilango have been appointed by YouX (the University of Adelaide’s student union) as the 2025 editors for the student publication On Dit, after applications to fill vacancies were opened in December 2024.
Founded in 1932, On Dit is the third oldest student publication in Australia. It has consistently served as a platform for airing the activities and happening of clubs, societies and students of the University of Adelaide, while also acting as the launching pad for a number of Australian journalists, including Clementine Ford, David Penberthy and Annabel Crabb.
On Dit has never shied away from scandal, in spotlighting issues important to students and critiquing both university and political administrations. But now embroiled in controversy of its own, and facing an uncertain future within a shakeup of the university as a whole, the publication stands at a crossroads unlike anything else seen within its 93-year history.
The editorial positions were left vacant after the 2024 student election result was overturned due to findings of unauthorised campaigning and use of unapproved campaign material from a team aligned with the student faction Progress.
Despite the Election Tribunal recommending that a re-election be held, YouX launched a competitive application process in December 2024 to fill the paid editorial positions for the 2025 term.
Each editor receives $7500 for publishing six editions by the end of November, according to documents acquired via a Freedom of Information request that were seen by InDaily.
InDaily understands that at least three teams were shortlisted within the application process: two independent teams and one with links to Progress, the latter of which was successful and began in mid-March.
The appointed editors, Ramadoss and Sundaramurti Ilango, both contested positions on the Student Representative Council in 2024 as Progress candidates.
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Charlotte Whincup, a Media and Arts Student and member of one of the independent teams that submitted an application and contested in the 2024 Student Media election, told InDaily her team was passionate about contributing to a “highly respected student publication”.
“Our team nominated for On Dit because we are all very passionate about writing and media and have a diverse skill set, including previous magazine writing and editing experience,” she said.
“We wanted to restore On Dit to how it was in 2023 and the years prior with our own distinctive touch, with 10 issues, including special editions.”
However, Whincup said the application process, coupled with suspicions of a potentially prejudiced selection process, led the independent team to withdraw their application.
Whincup told InDaily that after submitting their application in December 2024, they were met with “radio silence” until February 2025.
The team had been notified by a member of YouX staff that they had been shortlisted for an interview, and liaised a date and time for it to take place. However, they were shortly informed that voting members of the Student Media Committee passed a motion for the Student Media Committee Chair to take control of the appointment process from YouX Staff.
The Student Media Committee reports to the YouX board and oversees the Student Media outlets (both On Dit and Student Radio). All voting members who sat on the committee during this time, including the YouX President Merlin Wang, the Student Media Committee Chair Nowmicaa Matheswaran and the Student Radio Directors, are members of the Progress faction.
In late February, Whincup and her team were informed by Matheswaran that the committee wanted further materials to proceed with the application.
This included a two-page editorial article titled “The Recent Times – War, Ideologies, and the Global Divide”, a note discussing “your views on press freedom and your approach to politically sensitive topics as an editor” and an “editorial vision statement” describing “the creative direction you would bring to On Dit and how you would engage the student body”. The application also needed a cover letter and a cover page aligned with the provided brief.
Whincup and her team withdrew from the process at this point due to frustration with what they considered to be unreasonable and seemingly unnecessary demands.
Alec Tedesco is an arts student and a member of the other independent team that was shortlisted for the vacancy. Tedesco corroborated the experiences of Whincup’s team, and his team was also asked to provide further materials to support their application, which they complied with.
Tedesco also revealed that, prior to receiving the outcome of their team’s application, a YouX board member had attempted to negotiate a proposal for Tedesco to join the Progress-affiliated On Dit team as an individual editor. He said he was struggling to get an answer as to why his full team was no longer being considered to fill the roles.
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Whincup said that they also refused deals to align with any faction to avoid compromising their journalistic independence within the role.
Tedesco’s team was informed in mid-March that their application was unsuccessful.
Both teams were told the additional application materials would be deidentified by YouX staff prior to selection by the Student Media Committee (SMC), and that the appointment would be an “unbiased process”.
“If the SMC and the editors are part of the same faction, the SMC Progress members would likely know that they nominated and know their skills, experiences, and values well enough, or possibly have even discussed with them what they wrote, to identify them from a supposedly ‘de-identified’ cover letter, editorial article, vision statement, and press freedom note,” Whincup said.
Email records obtained under FOI by a student of the university and seen by InDaily reveal internal concerns regarding the delay in appointing editors.
Correspondence between the university’s representative to the YouX board, Michael Physick, and a member of YouX staff reveals that a different staff member had identified preferred candidates, but they were “prevented by progressing this by Progress”.
He added that “it was within the capacity of the YouX Board to have editors appointed by now, but they chose not to and to go through a lengthier process”.
Physick said there was a need for “some level of accountability at the Board level” for the delays that occurred in the appointment process.
InDaily contacted YouX President Merlin Wang for comment regarding concerns about the integrity of the selection process, but did not receive a response.
General Secretary of the SRC Edward Archer agrees that student-run media is a vital part of campus life and culture.
“I think especially with the merger as well, student media plays a big role in holding YouX and also the university accountable in student matters in the merger… like, publicising things like what aspects of the merger are going to be different from their respective institutions,” Archer said.
However, he expressed concern that the democratic election process and the YouX board’s close involvement in student media has inadvertently turned On Dit into a “political arm” of YouX – one that benefits the faction with the majority on the board.
Archer believes major campus factions like Progress have amassed a significant amount of institutionalised power, to the point where even those elected through a democratic vote are “effectively appointed”.
“Progress are institutionalised and have a huge vote count, so they often crush independent tickets,” he told InDaily.
“I think [editorial appointments] should be completely separated from the Board, and it should just be the staff dealing with it. I think the Board should have no control over the process at all.”
The current editorial team said they aim to revitalise the prestigious student publication by “creating a fun, vibrant, and inclusive platform that reflects the diverse voices of the students”.
Their first issue, focused on “Mental Health”, is currently in development, with the submission deadline being this week.
