Nexus Editor Hypocritical On Censorship

Complaints from Nexus editor Anthony Hiron of censorship of his magazine are hypocritical as last year Mr Hiron censored and suppressed the views of a Waikato student who criticised the Waikato Student Union (WSU), Student Choice said today.

In July last year Waikato University student Renee van Rhyn submitted an 800-word article to Nexus that supported voluntary membership of WSU. In Nexus issue 15 (2001) Mr Hiron printed an article that he attributed to Ms van Rhyn, but the piece had 95% of its wording removed and replaced with gibberish, Student Choice spokesman Clint Heine said. Nexus explained the censorship saying the article was edited for “moral and ethical reasons”.

“It’s pure hypocrisy for Hiron to complain about censorship in his open letter to Bryan Gould written this month,” Heine said. Hiron complained to Gould that he has been "publicly misrepresented”, and has had “statements attributed to me falsely”.

"This is exactly what Hiron did to Ms van Rhyn last year," Heine said. “Hiron put Ms van Rhyn’s name to an article she didn’t write and totally removed the substance of her argument – that’s misrepresentation and censorship. It’s surprising Mr Hiron is opposed to censorship given that he’s a willing practitioner of it himself,” Heine said.

Mr Heine said Hiron also seems to be suffering from selective memory loss. In January this year Hiron said, “I printed every letter and article I was given which did not break the law. I have never stopped anyone from expressing their political views in the magazine and I refute the implication that nexus (sic) is somehow closed off to those with differing political views to mine."

Hiron’s censorship of Renee van Rhyn’s article is another argument against compulsory membership of WSU. “It's clear that Mr Hiron is not interested in fair debate. His agenda is to defend compulsory membership of WSU and the $60,000 subsidy it delivers to Nexus. Waikato students shouldn’t be forced to fund a magazine whose editor does not tolerate opinions different to his own,” Mr Heine said.

Clint Heine 021 122 8544

Student Choice promotes freedom of association through voluntary membership of student associations.

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