SNOWFLAKE student union bosses want their newspaper to be vetted by a “sensitivity reader”.
They insisted on the appointment so The Mancunion can continue to receive funding.
Sara Khan, the University of Manchester’s student union’s liberation and access officer, said it would also ensure that no “insensitive” articles are published.
She wants the title to ask people for consent before it publishes articles about them, claiming it is “unethical journalism” to not do so.
Ms Khan also said it can “result in psychological harm or distress” and puts people at risk of “death and rape threats through social media”.
She has called for 45 per cent of the title’s journalists to be black, Asian and minority ethnic to reflect the make-up of the rest of the student population.
She claimed that in the past The Mancunion had “handled information surrounding liberation and diversity poorly”.
Ms Khan said: “We don’t believe that this is malicious or intentional, but that it stems from a lack of diversity in the team, and a lack of training and education.”
But the paper’s deputy editor Amy Wei slammed the proposals, calling them “impractical and unconstitutional”.
She said: “The introduction of a sensitivity reader infringes on The Mancunion’s independence, which is protected in the SU’s by-laws.”
The plan was voted down at a meeting on Thursday night.
Last year The Sun revealed that Ms Khan had banned students from clapping, saying it upsets people with autism or sensory issues.
They must do “jazz hands” instead.
