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| Critic Te Ārohi | |
|---|---|
| Name | Critic Te Ārohi |
| Type | Student magazine |
| Format | Print and online |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Owners | Otago University Students' Association |
| Language | English, Māori |
| Headquarters | Dunedin |
Critic Te Ārohi is the student magazine of the University of Otago published in Dunedin, New Zealand, serving a readership across tertiary institutions including the University of Auckland, Victoria University of Wellington, Massey University, University of Canterbury, and Lincoln University. The magazine operates within the milieu of student media alongside publications such as the On Dit (University of Adelaide), Fleur de Lis, Chequerboard, Craccum, and the Pegasus (magazine), engaging in campus politics, arts coverage, and investigative reporting. Its activities intersect with organisations like the Otago University Students' Association, New Zealand Union of Students' Associations, Association of New Zealand University Students, Office of the Ombudsman (New Zealand), and national outlets including the New Zealand Herald, Stuff (company), Radio New Zealand, and The Spinoff.
Founded in 1925 during the interwar period alongside contemporaries such as The Student at the University of Sydney and Varsity (newspaper) at the University of Toronto, the magazine evolved through eras marked by the Great Depression, World War II, and the Vietnam War protests that reshaped student activism. During the 1960s and 1970s it covered events tied to figures like Malcolm Fraser, Norman Kirk, Helen Clark, Robert Muldoon, and movements such as the Māori protest movement, the Māori Renaissance, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement (South Africa). In the neoliberal reforms of the 1980s associated with Roger Douglas and the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand, the magazine reported on student fees and policy debates influenced by institutions including the Ministry of Education (New Zealand), the Tertiary Education Commission, and unions like the New Zealand Educational Institute. The 21st century saw coverage of events involving Jacinda Ardern, Bill English, John Key, the Christchurch mosque shootings, and public debates linked to the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Paris Agreement. The publication has periodically faced controversies similar to those experienced by The Student (Durham), The Cambridge Student, and The Dartmouth Review.
The magazine is published under the auspices of the Otago University Students' Association with editorial independence negotiated through constitutions and regulations comparable to frameworks used by the University of Oxford Student Union, National Union of Students (United Kingdom), and the Canadian University Press. Governance involves an elected editorial team akin to models at The Varsity (Toronto) and The Harvard Crimson, overseen by boards resembling those of the BBC College of Journalism and student trustees parallel to governance at Columbia University student media. Funding streams include advertising from organisations such as Fonterra, Air New Zealand, and local businesses, grants from bodies like the New Zealand Charities Services, and contentious fee provisions mirrored in debates at Otago Polytechnic and Auckland University of Technology. The magazine liaises with legal advisers inspired by precedents from the New Zealand Law Society and regulatory interactions with the Human Rights Commission (New Zealand).
Editorial content spans news, opinion, features, arts criticism, and satire, emulating formats seen in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Economist, and student titles like Cherwell (newspaper) and The Cambridge Student. Regular sections include campus news analogous to reporting in The Times Higher Education Supplement, cultural reviews akin to those in Metro (magazine), music coverage referencing acts mentioned in NME, and long-form investigations comparable to pieces in ProPublica and The Intercept. Contributors have covered subjects ranging from local politics involving the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council to arts events at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, performances at the Dunedin Entertainment Centre, and festivals like the Dunedin Fringe Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The magazine publishes satire and comics in a tradition linked to Private Eye (magazine), The Onion, and student cartoonists who later work for outlets including Viz (magazine), The Beano, and The New Yorker.
Distributed free across campus and city sites, the magazine combines print runs with online platforms analogous to hybrid models used by Vice Media, BuzzFeed, HuffPost, and academic journals hosted on platforms like JSTOR and Project MUSE. Print editions appear weekly during academic terms with archives held by institutions such as the Hocken Collections and catalogued through systems like the National Library of New Zealand. Digital presence includes multimedia produced in collaboration with broadcasters such as Radio New Zealand and student radio stations like Radio One (Dunedin), and engagement with social media channels paralleling strategies used by Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Distribution networks intersect with student unions across Australasia including the New South Wales Union of Students and student associations at the University of Melbourne.
The publication has led campaigns and investigations into student fees, sexual assault policies, and administrative transparency, comparable to inquiries by The Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (Scottish edition), and investigative projects like those of the Serious Fraud Office (New Zealand). Coverage has scrutinised university decision-making involving the Council of the University of Otago, property issues tied to the University of Otago Registry Building, and public debates engaging ministers including Chris Hipkins, Grant Robertson, and Megan Woods. Past investigations referenced national issues such as responses to the Quake (Christchurch) aftermath, local housing crises similar to those in Auckland and Wellington, and student mental health concerns aligning with reports by Healthline (New Zealand) and the Ministry of Health (New Zealand).
The magazine and its contributors have received recognition at events like the Canon Media Awards, the Voyager Media Awards, and tertiary journalism prizes akin to the University of Otago Journalism Awards and accolades conferred by bodies such as the New Zealand Journalists Association. Alumni have progressed to roles at media organisations including NZME, Stuff, TVNZ, Three (TV channel), RNZ, Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, and The Guardian, winning awards comparable to the Pulitzer Prize, Walkley Awards, and British Journalism Awards.
Category:Student newspapers published in New Zealand Category:University of Otago