Massey University students nationwide will be without a print magazine from next month on, as a result of changes to funding of student media introduced in two years ago.
The February 26 issue of MASSIVE will be the final edition to be printed; from then on, the magazine will exist primarily online as MASSIVE Media. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Massey’s student magazines.
A press release sent out on behalf of all four Massey students’ associations said the cut was due to the reduction in funding faced by all students' associations since the introduction of Voluntary Student Membership in 2012.
“MAWSA is no longer able to provide MASSIVE in the way that it has in the past two years. We have many stakeholders – most notably students – who are affected by this change and we appreciate your understanding as we begin this transition.”
MASSIVE was set up in early 2012 to serve all Massey University students, after the reduction in funding of VSM meant the single-campus magazines Satellite, Magneto, Off-Campus and Chaff, all founded in 1934, were no longer sustainable.
Massey University will be the first university in the country post-VSM to be without a printed student magazine. Victoria University’s Salient, Otago University’s Critic and Auckland University’s Craccum continue to release printed editions, though have had to investigate other sources of funding post-VSM.
“I am disappointed that this situation has arisen for the students who will not be able to see their work published in print in the future,” said MASSIVE editor Morgan Browne. “However, we MASSIVE contributors will be doing our best to ensure that Massey students retain an independent voice.”
