Illustration by Emma Bound
It was an announcement that has got everyone talking. Whether you agreed with it or not, Frankie Cocozza has become the latest famous name to come to 53 Degrees.
By the time you read this, he will have been and gone, however the debate around whether he should have even made the trip up to Preston in the first place has carried on since the announcement on Facebook on November 11.
Many people have made the assumption that the Students’ Union (SU) booked Cocozza and have criticised the union on social media sites for it. However this is not the case.
Those of you who were at UCLan last year will remember Promo, the club night run by the union in 53 Degrees on a Thursday. Promo has gone, to be replaced by Vodka Nationwide which is organised and run by a company called Taking Liberties. The union just provides the venue.
The last few days has also shown the complexity and difficulty of the job I have as a trustee of the SU and editor of this paper. It’s been a conflict of the need to protect and defend the union as well as being the editor of Pluto, which wants to ask is the booking of Cocozza right.
I find that it can be a case of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The other day I was asked why Pluto had put a story about Frankie Cocozza on the website (www.pluto-online.com) and the reaction to the announcement.
As a journalist, the natural instinct is to write something about it and ask questions to give you answers.
The fact that five times as many people went and read it as well as the highest engagement Pluto has managed online in several years, proved that it was an issue which got people talking. But what should a Media Officer do in this situation if students are criticising the union?
As an employee of the SU I feel that I should defend the union, which is why I have explained the relationship between 53 Degrees and Vodka Nationwide in this piece. But then again how would it look if Pluto didn’t pick up on the reaction to Cocozza and ask: “Is this right?”
Student media aims to hold people to account.
We held the university to account over the timetabling problems earlier in the year and asked them to explain what had gone wrong and what was being done about it.
We held Funk Events and Sankeys to account when students were left in Manchester during a night out and had to make their own way home when they should have boarded a pre-arranged bus which never appeared.
However student media can, and should, hold the union to account if there are issues which people think need addressing.
The report Pluto did into the reaction saw much interaction online and many people seemed against it but official complaints to the union and SU President, Reni Eddo-Lodge were low, with only one e-mail received.
But if you still feel strongly about the booking of Cocozza by Taking Liberties, you can still air your thoughts and question the union; and one of the ways to do this is through student media and me. It’s what we are here for.
This piece is also online where you can comment about it and the whole issue surrounding the booking.
The booking of Cocozza is going to divide students, as it divides people up and down the country.
People complained online, but ticket sales for the night were higher than previous Vodka Nationwide nights, so was it right to book him?
It’s impossible to please everybody. As an employee of the union, it can potentially make working relationships difficult to question and hold colleagues accountable through the public forum that is student media. However, if the issue deserves questioning then it’s for the greater good.
The union has many ways of representing students and fulfilling its motto of making life better for students.
The Annual Members’ Meeting, elections and Student Council are just three of those ways.
But student media is another vital tool and has the great ability to sometimes question the union as well as others.
Don’t get me wrong, the union does a lot of things well. Many other events are announced at 53 Degrees without the online scrutiny the Cocozza one did. Student Council has some interesting debates and the Annual Members’ Meeting sees some fantastic new ideas for the future direction of the union.
But nothing is perfect, and student media can help push things that little bit closer.
