Honi Soit publishes false rumour that USU paid $250k for Taylor Swift wax figure

Fabian Robertson criticises Miss Soit’s gossip column for publishing falsehoods and abandoning journalistic responsibility.

Honi Soit published the incorrect rumour that the USU paid $250,000 for a Taylor Swift wax figure as part of Welcome Fest. This was followed up by a satirical article written by Matthew Forbes, of which the entire premise was based upon the notion that the USU had spent money on the wax figure instead of paying its staff.

Pulp can confirm that this is not true. According to the USU, the wax figure was loaned for free by Madame Tussaud’s in promotion of their museum.

The rumour was initially published in Honi’s gossip column under the fictional pseudonym ‘Miss Soit.’

“Miss Soit’s little moles have reported that the Taylor Swift wax figure cost the USU $250,000! For a company that’s pounding its staff on the daily, the USU certainly has very expensive taste,” the column read.

Pulp’s sources have indicated that Honi editors published this falsehood after hearing a “rumour” from one of their contacts. The publication of such a baseless rumour highlights Honi’s abandonment of journalistic responsibility when devising their gossip column. Their operation under the anonymous pseudonym Miss Soit, although humorous, allows the author/s to evade accountability for what is published. The consequences are self-evident: the importance of truth is marginalised in the desperate search for scraps of interesting content. 

Not only was the rumour published without deep investigation of its veracity, but the Honi editors have outed themselves as gullible enough to believe such a ludicrous story. The suggestion that the financially struggling USU, whose student board members have taken salary cuts to cope with the pandemic, would pay $250,000 for a wax figure is laughable. Would hiring the actual Taylor Swift to make a Welcome Fest appearance even cost that much?

 But the wax figure fiasco is not Miss Soit’s only journalistic blunder. In their week 2 publication, Honi was forced to retract their previous statement that Jayfel Tulabing was running for an executive position for the Women in Stem Society, despite not being in the Science Faculty. As Honi could have discovered with a single ounce of effort, Tulabing IS in fact studying Medical Science with Computer Science

 It is this author’s opinion that the Honi editorial team should be concerned by the publication of such falsehoods. Perhaps they can be forgiven in light of their near impossible task of filling a 24-page paper with newsworthy stories while juggling jobs and degrees. But after only 2 weeks of publications, it has become jarringly apparent that Miss Soit undermines the journalistic reputation of what is otherwise an excellent student paper. For when editors are willing to publish such unfounded rumours, what can we really believe from Honi?