Queen: Davison criticises Oxford students over portrait removal

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This is an attempt to remove “implicitly racist or sexist” articles from a weekly newspaper publication. This planned crackdown on sensitive articles has sparked a backlash from Oxford alumni. The move could threaten press freedom and may suppress “non-woke views” at Oxford.

Oxford University’s student union is planning to employ “Student Consultancy of Sensitivity Readers” who would be paid to check “problematic” articles across the weekly newspaper, Cherwell.

The student union claims there is a “need for better editing” to review newspaper articles that are sent to the publication.

They claim that there has been “high incidences of insensitive material being published”.

The planned censorship of the Oxford weekly newspaper has been called a “bonkers” and “horrific” attempt to strangle press freedom by alumni.

The news comes after 150 Oxford University academics threatened to boycott their duties because Oriel College refused to take down a statue of Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

Recently a portrait of the Queen was removed from Magdalen’s Middle Common Room due to the monarchy’s links to colonialism.

Government ministers called the move, “absurd”.

Other Oxford University publication could come under the scrutiny of ‘sensitivity readers’, such as the Oxford Student newspaper.

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Former BBC broadcaster Michael Crick, who edited the Cherwell while at Oxford University’s New College, has labelled the initiative, “horrific”.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph he said: “If you’re going to have a boring, dull, vetted newspaper then nobody’s going to read it.”

Toby Young, director-general of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline: “The Oxford Student Union has no business vetting the work of student journalists.

“Any attempt at censorship might well fall foul of the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Bill.

“The bill extends the legal duty to uphold free speech on campus to students’ unions.

“Student leaders should be standing up for the speech rights of student journalists, not trying to muzzle them.”

Asked about the current free-speech row at Oxford University, a Downing Street spokesman said: “Students rightly expect to get a good deal for their investment in higher education and we would expect universities to take appropriate action should any student be seriously affected by these actions which could include compensation.

“We fully believe in protecting academic freedom but universities have a duty to maintain access to good-quality tuition as a priority especially given the disruption the pandemic has caused students already.”

Cherwell is the name of the is a weekly student newspaper published entirely by students of Oxford University and founded in 1920.

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