Audio By Carbonatix
Backslash Magazine would not offend your grandmother. There are no nudie photos or, say, instructions on how to assemble a homemade bomb. Nor are there ads for escort services, curse words, or even a recipe for ganja cookies. It’s just a cool college lifestyle magazine created by a bunch of University of Miami twenty-somethings.
Still, last year, the school’s administrators banned the publication from being distributed on campus, saying: “We had more than a few complaints about areas bombarded with the magazine.” They then encouraged the creators to write for the college paper, The Miami Hurricane, instead. This pissed off writers, editors and designers who felt the school should support them. Starting a paper is daunting enough, they said, without your alma mater acting like Hu Jintao.
Since then, creators have written the school’s Director of Business
Services Sandra Redway, explaining they want to improve their
relationship with the college. They also asked permission to leave Backslash a few
places around campus. She recently wrote back. “Media is not allowed to
distribute on campus,” and “[U of M] was met with hostility” by the magazine.
(Read the letter here:backslash.pdf.)
“It’s bullshit,” says co-creator Joey Difrancesco. “It’s been five months and they are still giving us the run around.”
The letter encourages them to reapply in
the fall. “This is my school,” he adds.”And I can’t share my magazine.”
