"Salient" Changes Hands-1939

It all started at the Annual General Meeting when it was moved that the Students Association fee be raised to £1/10/-, such fee to include a year's subscription to Salient and one issue of Spike.

As the fight raged, a gentleman (by name of W. S. Mitchell) opposed the motion and produced seven neatly-tabulated arguments aimed at Salient's active political commentary and its very, very blassed attitude generally. A search through Salient back numbers reveals that the main bone of contention was that Mr. Mitchell had once had two letters ignored by Salient. With the objectivity of the historian we would suggest that the gentleman was very aggrieved. The editor of Salient (J. D. Freeman) then rose to the occasion and produced nine neatly-tabulated arguments (plus three sub-arguments plus statistics) why Salient should have acted in this wicked fashion and why its policy had to be biassed. Apparently one of the aggrieved gentleman's letters arrived too late and the other was irrelevant.

When the furore was at its height, Mr. Freeman offered to let Mr. Mitchell edit Salient for two issues. The challenge was accepted. The critics of Salient were in power! . . . Salient went its normal chaotic way. The standard of Journalism was no better, the general sterility pervading the articles was relieved by a few biassed letters and one or two articles expressing animosity, which for the amateur historian are the only things of interest in the issues. Mr. Mitchell in an apologetic note gave full credit to the hard work done by Mr. Freeman and his staff, and retired his team from Salient Room, still protesting a little at the blassed policy.

And the morals of the story?