Pulp interviews Drip for Honi
Ticket: Drip for Honi
Members: Patrick McKenzie, Ariana Haghighi, Rhea Thomas, Bonnie Huang, Danny Cabubas, Harry Gay, Kristin Miao, Joe Fidler, Amelia Raines, Anie Kandya
An energised and multimedia focussed ticket, Drip for Honi are running to “douse Honi with refreshing ideas, hot takes and unique perspectives”.
In their interview with Pulp, Drip presented a range of innovative and exciting ideas and were enthusiastic about taking the paper in a new direction. They emphasised their plan to introduce “new faces, ideas and technology”, focus on comedy and central to their campaign: multimedia. The ticket has made particular reference to podcasting where they plan to use conversation to break down what’s happening on campus “in a way that’s digestible and accessible”. Drip noted that the breadth of their multimedia presence may not even be fully fleshed out yet because they plan to accept “creative and innovative pitches” from contributors.
“It can feel like often multimedia is a promise made by respective editors but because we have actual sufficient training, confidence and competence, we’re super keen to bring about podcasting, documentaries, [to] expand Honi into a breadth of multimedia”.
Drip intend to use design and art to “push boundaries” on social media and to tie their written and multimedia content together, but beyond continuing the use of Twitter (and presumably Facebook), they were somewhat vague on their plans for the online world. As with Cake, questions remain over how feasible it is for Drip to deliver such a plethora of multimedia promises considering the enormous amount of work required in producing the regular newspaper alone.
Whilst both Cake and Drip are running as progressive, left-wing tickets, Drip were more vague when it came to their political stance. Beyond simply covering protests and activist events, Drip were somewhat unconvincing in their commitment to actually doing activism within the paper itself. Whilst a singular and united political vision may not necessarily be a requirement for a robust Honi, claiming a left-wing stance does have implications and their inability to articulate what this stance means to them suggests that Drip may be less inclined to conduct investigations themselves to expose inequalities within the university and beyond.
Drip did note, however, that they were keen to continue covering the raft of austerity measures happening on campus with the belief that “if people are able to understand what’s happening and engage with it in a comprehensive way… that would just greatly benefit student life.”
Drip don’t plan to continue Honi’s gossip column, stating that their “ticket is not interested in creating anything that would become extremely divisive. We’re of the position where we want Honi to feel safe, inclusive, informative”. However, the ticket emphasised that the removal of the gossip column wouldn’t mean never reporting on humorous happenings on campus and they’ve committed to a double-page spread of comedy every week.
Drip seem keen to form a collaborative relationship with Pulp and their commitment to inclusivity and openness and having a former multilingual editor (Kristin Miao) in their ranks suggests that this will likely be a reality under their editorship. They said that collaboration might occur in joint reporting or a potential Honi x Pulp podcast.
Doubts remain over whether Drip have articulated a clear enough vision for Honi and whether they have the precision (and time) to execute their ambitious ideas. Yet their plan for a dominant multimedia presence certainly sets them apart and they seem genuine about making Honi more inclusive, accessible and welcoming.
Watch the full interview below.
Disclaimer: Pulp Editor Fabian Robertson is a ticket member for Cake for Honi and is not involved in any of the coverage for Honi Soit elections.