On Dit
| Editors | Jenny Nguyen, Tom Haskell and Jesse Davidson |
|---|---|
| Categories | Student magazine |
| Frequency | Fortnightly |
| First issue | 1932 |
| Company | Adelaide University Union |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Website | On Dit |
On Dit is a student newspaper funded by the Adelaide University Union and advertising revenue which is published fortnightly during semester time. Founded in 1932, it is the third oldest student newspaper in Australia along with Semper Floreat (which was first published in the same year as On Dit). The paper replaced its precursor the Varsity Ragge which ran from 1928 to 1931 when it ended because of what On Dit described in its first edition as 'student apathy'. The Varsity Ragge returned in 1934 for a single edition as a rival to On Dit.
On Dit's title is French and has a number of translations. Its most literal translation is "one says," but the French language uses "one" similarly to how "they" is used in English. This is why less literal translations may be more appropriate; these include "so I hear," "what the people are saying," "rumour," "they say," "we say," "people say," and "hearsay."
The last was a variation title of the newspaper in 1972 when--due to French nuclear testing in the Pacific--the editors refused to use the paper's original French-language title, opting for one of its English translations. Contrary to popular belief, the title is pronounced /ɔ̃ di/ [roughly like the "o" in "don't" plus the sound "dee], rather than the way it is spelt.
The newspaper began as a two-page broadsheet but within a few years quickly grew to four pages. The first editors were C.R. Badger (Arts), K.L. Litchfield (Law) and C.G. Kerr (Arts), who published the first edition on 15 April 1932. In its early years, On Dit focussed mainly on the activities and happenings of clubs and societies at the North Terrace campus of the University of Adelaide.
From the beginning, the newspaper attracted the ire of the university administration. Its very first editorial criticised certain regulations of the Barr Smith Library – criticism not well received at the time.On Dit's editorial team in its fifth year of existence, Helen Wighton and Finlay Crisp, later married.
One of the paper's first successes was its campaign, in 1936, for a student-elected head of the Adelaide University Union.
The paper ceased publication in 1941 due to World War II, but resumed again in 1944.
While the paper charged a low price to its readers in its first decades, it switched to free distribution in the 1960s and remains so to this day, supporting itself with advertising and funds from the AUU. In its early years it was an organ of the Student Representative Council, which later became the Students' Association of the University of Adelaide (a body which did not survive voluntary student unionism (VSU), and therefore has since been replaced by the Adelaide University Student Representative Council). Today, On Dit is a publication of the Adelaide University Union.
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