What's Felix about, really?

What is the point of Felix? 

I have been involved with this newspaper in various ways over the last couple of years, but I never questioned its purpose until this summer. Before I became Editor, what Felix meant to me was quite clear: a hobby that made me a better writer and critical thinker, a community that always felt like home, an office to crash at when the library was full, a perfect justification as to why I never joined sports clubs (reality: I’m bad at them).

But as I sat in the deserted Felix basement, with quakes from Beit Quad’s construction site as the only sign of life while the section editors indulged in trips or toiled in internships, I started to wonder what Felix meant to others.

If “others” means the student body at large, the short answer is, not much. A consulting project we commissioned recently (courtesy of the Business School) showed that around half of students don’t even know what Felix is. One of the consultants tactfully highlighted this problem by admitting that she used to belong to that category, until she saw someone using a copy of the newspaper to wipe a table in Kokoro.

Felix lacks good data for its print readership. Given our lacklustre website analytics, I think this might be a good thing, for the sake of our self-esteem. At a time when grade inflation and a precarious job market have made time-consuming internship preparations and CV-able extracurriculars a necessity, people have less time to spend on campus news. And on news in general: even the most reputable British newspapers struggle financially. The rise of doomscrolling didn’t help either.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised to learn how much Felix meant to some, beyond our editorial bubble, through often fortuitous encounters with loyal puzzle-guzzlers, nostalgic alumni, adamant free speech enthusiasts, once-in-a-year survey readers, and many others who confessed their endearment for the paper.

This wide range of interests brings me back to my hook: what even is the point of Felix in the first place?

I see four main objectives a student newspaper can fulfill. One: please the readers. Two: train future journalists. Three: provide a voice for students. Four: hold the College accountable.

Let’s start with readership. Imperial students, who have free access to top-tier publications like The Economist and Financial Times, will be likely to pick up a newspaper if it covers campus news not relayed by the official channels (read: mildly scandalous), if the writing is really outstanding, if reading the newspaper helps them with their career or makes them laugh.

All of these approaches require able and determined writers, the likes of which we are lucky to have on the team. But here comes the first dilemma: how does an editor deal with a submission that, as heartfelt as it might be, is unlikely to provoke much interest? There is a conflict between the ambition to turn Felix into a high-quality newspaper and our vocation to give every student a chance to be published. Offering better training to aspiring writers is an obvious workaround, and an objective I am keen on implementing.

But ironically, many talented writers now circumvent the formalities of a print newspaper and publish their work directly online. Similarly, social media and newsletters have given societies a way to spread information creatively and without a middleman.

For Felix does come at a price, and, if our role is to keep to Union accountable on its spending, then integrity demands that we examine our own costs and utility. The expected price tag of the 25 issues planned for the year, for a total of just over 720,000 pages, stands at £21,893.50. To this, add the sabbatical Editor’s salary as well as (modest) society expenses, and deduct advertising revenue (which rivals the expenses in modesty). 

Like for most university publications, the Student Union provides virtually all of that budget – which might on day raise questions concerning editorial independence, although this principle has been conscientiously respected since I arrived.

So, is Felix worth it? If we seize the opportunities that are given to us, definitely. This year, we will work hard to increase collaborations with Imperial societies, produce high-quality, student-focused content, enhance our digital presence and expand into multimedia. Amazing progress in that direction has already been done by my predecessor and his committee.

If you’ve made it the end of this editorial (congratulations!), I would sincerely love to hear what you think of Felix and what you would want to see in the pages your tuition sponsors. Reach out to us by email, or pay us a visit in the Beit Quad West Basement when you’re around!