I was Editor of Cranium in 1995 and 1997.
I have an interview coming out in Craccum this Saturday where I reflect on those 2 years and the Free Speech shenanigans I got up to.
I talked about notorious serial rapist, the Parnell Panther, threatening to kill me and my co-editor for publishing an expose of gang members selling hard drugs in the upper common room. The time the Police raided my house after I published the badge numbers of Cops who had beaten up students at protests, I helped occupy the Registry Building and was formally interviewed by Police for publishing a ‘how to guide’ for building a nuclear weapon.
Oh the lols.
I was also invited to speak at their conference yesterday about free speech (The Free Speech Union and Professor Elizabeth Rata were there, so you can imagine how much eye rolling I was doing).
I told the students how vital Uni media is to the functioning debate of democracy, that they are the conscience of society and have the privilege of higher education.
I told them that most Kiwis work their fingers to the bone and that when they have the moment to check the media, you have to be there with news that provides oversight and insight. We have a privilege being in the media and we have obligations to our fellow citizens, no matter what way they vote.
I argued that we must always as the Fourth Estate challenge power, that we have an obligation to do that.
This debate is occurring in the shadow of a major threat to Craccum.
With the demise of Universal Student Unionism, the Student Associations have become little more than a stooge for the Universities who have simply made students nothing more than clients in the user pays Education market.
This has severely weakened the Student Associations and the media on campus.
There is a current petition out trying to gain independence for Craccum, now that the Student Association can censor them!
Press Release: Craccum Magazine Moves to Establish Independence from AUSA
On July 29th, 2025, a group of 20 concerned Craccum Magazine contributors and members of the Auckland University Students’ Association launched a petition calling for a Special General Meeting (SGM) to take place to certify Craccum Magazine’s funding and independence for 2026 and beyond.
If you are an AUSA member and would like to support the petition, please consider signing!
We need 50 signatures to call the meeting.
The call for independence comes primarily from 2025’s sudden budget cuts, which have seen Craccum Magazine’s circulation drop out of weekly print publication for the first time in over half a century. There was no consultation about these cuts from AUSA with University of Auckland students, nor the Editors and staff of Craccum on these budget cuts. Craccum Magazine also has no control over its finances, advertising, nor does it have its own bank account.
As of 2025, Craccum’s operating budget comes from student fees, and the University of Auckland allocates $150,000 (0.5%) of the student levy to AUSA to pay for Craccum Magazine to be a “weekly” publication (source). Resource/funding allocation is decided and signed off by the University Executive Commitee. This committee consists of Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater, Pro-Vice Chancellors and Deans of Faculties (source).
Now for 2026, Craccum Magazine, the University of Auckland’s student publication, is facing a proposed 22% funding cut—equivalent to $33,000—on top of previous reductions that have already gutted its budget. This latest blow would equate to reducing circulation by a further six print issues or six paid student roles. This will further erode opportunities for young journalists and leave Craccum stands empty for months.
Before 2025, Craccum paid contributors for nearly 90% of its content. In 2025, that figure has reversed—90% of content is now produced by unpaid volunteers. In a cost-of-living crisis, this reliance on unpaid student labour is ethically indefensible. Without intervention, Craccum may be reduced to a skeleton crew by 2026, jeopardising its centenary in 2027. A husk of its former self.
The University of Auckland ranks last in Aotearoa for student media funding, allocating just 0.4% of the Student Services Levy to Craccum—far below Canterbury (5%), Waikato (4%), and Victoria (2.1%). Despite claiming to value “a strong student voice,” the University’s actions suggest otherwise.
When asked for comment, the University stated that students’ only recourse is to respond to the CSSF 2026 consultation survey—open for 10 days of which 9 days are left. Students are urged to complete the survey and demand the reversal of proposed cuts and an increase in Craccum’s funding.
Meanwhile, questions are mounting about AUSA’s role as Craccum’s kaitiaki. AUSA represents Craccum on the Student Consultative Group, yet has approved two budget cuts without consulting the editorial team or the student body. Is AUSA truly an appropriate guardian of our student media?
2025’s budget-cutting decision was made by the Craccum Administrative Board (CAB), a sub-committee of AUSA. After students raised questions about why Craccum’s staff and circulation were suddenly slashed in half, the CAB released a statement justifying their decision (source). In that press release, the CAB made several false claims justifying Craccum’s 2025 budget cuts:
The CAB claims: “Declining readership… With print circulation dropping to as low as 1,000 copies per issue, many of which remained unclaimed, our digital presence also struggled to gain traction” (source).
Debunking AUSA’s claims that Craccum Magazine is in decline:
According to Craccum Magazine’s editors from the past half-decade, the pickup rate for print issues has been more or less consistently over 90% despite COVID. In 2025, Craccum’s pickup rate was very high at 96.3% on average (source), with most issues selling out completely in a day or two, and some stands have reportedly sold out in less than an hour.
The CAB do not quantify what they considered “low”; however, in AUSA’s own advertising information, they claim Craccum has an average pickup rate of 80% (source), which would make the current pickup rate for the magazine high (96.3%). Given that UOA considers 80% or higher an A-range grade (source), such a pick up rate cannot be considered “low” or unsucessful.
Additionally, when asking the CAB for minutes dating back to its creation for research purposes, we were told that the minutes do not exist because they were never kept. This is important to note because without the minutes we cannot verify any decisions the CAB made or the agenda/business items or who was in attendance. Minute keeping is common practice for any organisational/group meeting which they have neglected. Even AUSA’s Executive Meeting Minutes are published online. Why does an advisory board of AUSA and Craccum not keep minutes and follow this practice?
While it is true that only 1000 print copies of each issue of Craccum are published, that is not necessarily a decline. For example, despite print being the dominant media source in the mid-20th century, Craccum only circulated 300 copies in 1950. Compared to those numbers, 2025’s 1000 copies make today’s Craccum 3x as popular and successful (source: Craccum No. 4 1957).
This does not even begin to factor in our online engagement, too. For example, AUSA’s own advertising stats conflict with what the CAB claims of decline, as the same source claims Craccum has an average readership of 5–10,000 students, or about 1 in 4 UOA students (source). Indeed, Craccum’s internal data corroborates this claim as our website receives about 25k clicks per week and we have 10,000+ online followers (7,000 from Facebook, 2.3k from Instagram, etc.). Comparatively, Craccum has similar levels of online engagement to other student magazines, like AUT’s Debate Magazine (source), and significantly more followers than most Student Clubs at UOA. This evidence quite clearly disproves that Craccum’s “digital presence has struggled to gain traction.”
Furthermore, 2025 has seen Craccum go from strength to strength, with contributions increasing sixfold, restoring the magazine to pre-COVID levels of engagement despite the budget cuts. Craccum now has a list of 260+ registered members, more than 8 times the minimum requirement to become a recognised society by the University of Auckland. Indeed, recently the University of Auckland has officially recognised Craccum as a club-like entity operating on campus, for the first time in its 98-year history.
Craccum Magazine — Waipapa Taumata Rau’s taonga of student media for 98 years — warns that recent budget cuts have silenced Māori and Pasifika voices on campus. The removal of our Pasifika Editor, Te Ao Māori Editor, Arts Editor, Features Editor, Lifestyle Editor and Social Media Editor positions in 2025 has erased more than 1,800 hours of mentoring, cultural insight, and community storytelling from students already facing systemic barriers to media opportunities. These decisions, imposed without consultation or access to funding breakdowns, halve our paid cultural‑editor roles and breach equity commitments — eroding the authentic voices that connect alumni, current students, and future generations.
Māori and Pasifika students deserve a platform that uplifts their perspectives, values their cultural expertise, and ensures they steer their own narratives. They deserve a regular place in UOA’s student media, not a tokenistic gesture, like the one-off annual magazine (Taumata Rau) that AUSA thinks honours their commitment to Te Tiriti is adequate equitable representation. When the opportunity arose mid-way through 2025 to hire new staff following the resignation of our News Co-Editor, the CAB declined our request to split the role into a Te Ao Māori and Pasifika Editor.
Craccum is organising a Special General Meeting to establish independence as an incorporated society in 2026 — restoring control over our finances, editorial direction, cultural leadership, and safeguarding the representation that budget cuts have put at risk.
Yet, officially, we cannot publish the above information or criticise AUSA through Craccum anymore. As of 2024, AUSA’s constitution forbids Craccum from publishing anything that could cause reputational harm to AUSA (source). This is built into the Craccum staff’s contracts, and breaching this is a warrant for dismissal without notice. This attack on freedom of expression needs to be immediately repealed.
Simply put, Craccum is not in a state of decline, and we do not trust that AUSA can act as a good-faith Kaitiaki for the magazine without the immediate reforms our SGM moves for.
For these reasons, we call this SGM to call for the reform of AUSA’s current governance system for Craccum Magazine. Students want to take back control of their student magazine, and they want a seat at the table when key decisions are made about it. They care about Craccum Magazine. Craccum is a taonga of the University of Auckland’s student culture that needs to be protected and preserved for future generations to enjoy. We want to see Craccum restored to being a weekly print magazine, as it should be. By students, for students.
We call this SGM because students are willing and want to take back guardianship of Craccum Magazine. We want Craccum to be a self-governing incorporated society, led by a team of annually elected editors (as was the norm till 2020, now AUSA’s CAB appoints editors), with control of its own finances. We want contracts for receiving funds to via Memoranda of Understanding between AUSA and the University of Auckland. A similar relationship is already in place to fund the student-run UOA Scientific Journal, and Craccum Magazine could operate under a similar arrangement.
To that end, the SGM will vote on two key motions:
Motion 1: Full Legal Independence
Proposes establishing Craccum as an incorporated society, independent from AUSA but still recognised as the official magazine of Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. Key provisions include:
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Direct funding from the University via quarterly Student Levy instalments
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Transfer of all Craccum assets and intellectual property to the new society
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Continued office space on campus
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A deadline of 17 November 2025 to incorporate, elect a 2026 executive, and formalise governance
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A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to manage the AUSA–Craccum relationship
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Permanent right for Craccum’s Editor-in-Chief to attend, vote and report on SCG and Student Council meetings
Motion 2: Constitutional Reform Within AUSA
Proposes amendments to the AUSA constitution to strengthen Craccum’s autonomy without full separation. Highlights include:
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Guaranteed annual budget of $150,000 for weekly print publication, regardless of UOA funding cuts
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Increasing the number of paid student editorial roles
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Dedicated bank account for income/advertising revenue
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Restoration of editorial independence, including the right to publish content critical of AUSA
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Mandatory consultation on budget changes and a seat at the Student Council and SCG
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Expanded Craccum Advisory Board with independent media and academic members
Together, these motions offer students a referendum choice between full legal independence or strengthened autonomy within AUSA—both designed to protect Craccum’s legacy and ensure its future as a student-led publication.
If this information has moved you, please consider signing the SGM petition. We need 50 signatures to call an SGM, as we need to call it soon, before decisions for 2026 are made.
Jesus wept!
The power to censor?
AUSA would NEVER have had the audacity to pull this kind of stunt while there was Universal Student Unionism!
I believe we need more democratic infrastructure, not less.
I believe we desperately need to bring back Universal Student Membership with a $150 per year fee (added onto your student loan) to provide the revenue stream to enable the infrastructure of Student Unions.
It was ACT who revoked Universal Student Membership, we must restore it and give young people, the conscience of our society, the resources they need to empower their voices and rights above being simply clients to the University.
Universal Student Membership would protect Uni Media like Craccum by putting the power into the hands of the Students, not the University.
Labour, Greens and the Māori Party need to agree to Universal Student Membership in any future Government post the 2026 Election.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
I was at Auckland Uni at the same time as Martyn and in fact in at least one of the same lectures (politics)? .. weird to think that now I read his blog every day.
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