On Thursday Week 27, issue 15 of SCAN was withdrawn.
On Wednesday of the same week, tragic events unfolded in Cumbria and, though unrelated to SCAN’s front page story, it was felt that some offence may be caused by the paper’s content.
The front page story in question reported on a security incident that had taken place in Week 25. The headline, though lighthearted could have been misconstrued, and may have caused upset to some people after the shootings in Cumbria.
SCAN went to print on the Friday of Week 26, and was distributed around campus on the Tuesday afternoon of Week 27. The contents of the issue had been put together before the incidents in Cumbria, and there was no way in which the stories were linked or the story could have been removed before printing. The story, though entirely unrelated to the Cumbrian tragedy and toned lightheartedly, could have been an unseemly and tasteless reminder of the breaking news. Therefore the decision was made to withdraw the issue in case of any inadvertent offence caused.
Vice-President (Media and Communications) and SCAN Editor, Liam Richardson was solely responsible for the withdrawal the day after the events in Cumbria. In a statement Richardson explained, “I made the difficult decision to withdraw SCAN, something I did not do lightly. Sometimes principles must come first and on this occasion it seemed right and proper to pay our due respects to those who lost their lives.”
