By Emeritus Professor Lizette Rabe
What a milestone! Congratulations to Die Matie on its 85th anniversary. May this iconic student paper, irrespective of platform or medium in its future years, always be a guide to every single Matie on our campus.
Because: A student newspaper is not only a voice for each and every student on campus, but also an exercise in democracy. This is where the next generation of leaders learn to listen to all sides of an issue – and then act.
For a campus newspaper like Die Matie to have endured for so many eras over almost one century is a huge accomplishment. From the rebel years of the Voëlvry-era to Fees Must Fall, Die Matie withstood campus storm after campus storm and can be proud of its 85 years, while shaping, influencing and forming future leaders.
Stellenbosch students – and especially the editorial teams over more than eight decades – can be proud of their student mouthpiece.
Campus papers not only play that so vital role of informing students, they are also critical for holding leadership accountable. Most of all, they should not be captured by one single interest group or political party but give every single student a soap box – with a sound system – to allow all viewpoints to be heard.
Besides, an informed community is an empowered community, and that might be Die Matie’s biggest current role: to empower all sections on campus. That includes from students who struggle to have a healthy daily meal, to addressing the scourge of rape culture, to highlight issues that many prefer not to think of, such as female students who cannot even afford sanitary health products.
And yes, a campus paper is not only a watchdog for a campus’s well-being, it also offers a valuable training ground for future journalists – eventually, to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. In other words, to work in our news media as professional journalists on all platforms and in whichever medium to hold the powerful to account and to give the voiceless a voice.
That is why it is so important for a student newspaper to adhere to the standards of a free press. In our case, it is the Press Code of South Africa, that oversees print and digital media standards and ethics. Importantly, that an institution such as a student newspaper is not captured by a single political interest group, but to represent its full student body.
Through thick and thin, that is what Die Matie did over so many years and in so many manifestations. May this student paper that is so close to the heartbeat of Matieland, prosper in every respect in the years to come. So, let us hear it for Die Matie: Viva, Die Matie, viva!
