Canta (magazine)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for products and services. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted. Find sources: "Canta" magazine – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Canta" magazine – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Canta

Cover of Canta magazine 16 July 2014
Managing editor	Maddy Croad
Print editor	Hariklia Nicola
Digital editor	Imy Rice
Audio editor	Swarit Chauhan
News editor	Matteo Zhang
Frequency	Fortnightly during term time
Founded	1930
Company	University of Canterbury Students' Association
Based in	Christchurch, New Zealand
Website	canta.co.nz

Canta (stylised CANTA) is the official magazine of the University of Canterbury Students' Association (UCSA) of the University of Canterbury, established in 1930.

The magazine generally features a light-hearted tone, with an emphasis on short, image-heavy articles.

Canta is a member of the Aotearoa Student Press Association (ASPA) and the New Zealand Press Council.

Previous issues are archived and freely available in electronic form on the website of the National Library of New Zealand.

Publication information

Canta is freely available around The University of Canterbury campus every second Monday in term time. It is 48 pages long. The Managing Editor is Liam Donnelly and Print Editor is Liam Stretch. There are over 60 regular contributors.^{[citation needed]}

There are a variety of sections which typically appear in every issue. These include:

• Campus News (including Fake News)
• The President's Piece
• Comedian's Corner
• Flat Famous
• Gig Guide
• Lucky Dip (blind date)
• Time Capsule
• Horoscopes
• A recipe

Historical columns

• An Open Letter – Ben Uffindell
• The Cake Review – Dr. Handsome B. Wonderful Esq.
• Problem Solved – David Palmer
• Ye Olde Pub – Pot Belly Hayden
• The Challenge of "Yes" – Dani, The Yes Guru
• The UNInformant – Reuben VM
• Letters to the Editor – Various
• UC Kai – Annabel Longbean
• Sudoku
• Getting Inside the Queen's Legs – Andy Luck
• Sustainability – Sharon McIver
• The Inquisition – Various
• Exclusive Deals – Liquorland

Controversy

In 1996, the Canta editors Steven Fleming and Creon Upton were removed after publishing a range of controversial articles including a Mel Brooks Nazi parody, a column purporting to have been written by Michael Jackson, a mock Tintin comic strip, and a list of student criminal offenders^[1] (a hoax). The editors claimed at the time that their sacking was more a result of their poor relationship with the university's student executive council than anything else. An employment tribunal later found in favour of the sacked editors resulting in a substantial payout from the student executive.^{[citation needed]}

Canta was again involved in controversy following the publishing of an article entitled "The Completely Unofficial Top 13 Ways of Cheating" in the issue preceding midterm exams in June 2007. New Zealand newspaper The Press and internet news service Stuff ^[2] published an article which was reported on by 3 News.^[3] The university announced it was introducing a random seating policy in exams following the attention. Canterbury University Students' Association president Belinda Bundy said the article was not meant to be taken seriously. "I think we only ever saw it as a humorous thing, It was just a light-hearted reaction to all the cheating issues that have been raised recently."^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, a weekly column entitled "Trust Deborah – She's Always Right" surfaced. This column features a weekly rant against different groups of people, ranging from "fat" girls (females with a BMI>22, according to the column writer) and Christians. In issue 21 of 2008, Deborah again made headlines by suggesting that Christians "have the mental capacity of a Down's syndrome-sufferer with a head injury", are "mentally defective" and declaring that she wishes that all Christians would die. Her articles have generated considerable "Hate Mail", published in every issue of 2009. This has had little effect on changing Canta Magazine policy.^{[citation needed]}

In late 2015, the magazine underwent a restructuring after an article on virtual rape entitled "The Epidemic of Virtual Butt-hurt" was published in March. Issues were recalled^[4] and a new editorial team independent of the UCSA was appointed in 2016.^[5] The first issue of 2016, under the new team, included a message stating: "Disclaimer: The opinions presented in this Canta magazine are not necessarily those held by the UCSA or this University. Canta is now independent of the UCSA and is run by a student-led team."^[6]

See also

• List of print media in New Zealand

References

External links

• Canta's Official Site
• Archived issues on the National Library of New Zealand website
• Media related to Canta (magazine) at Wikimedia Commons