Members of Glasgow student television team, GUST, have expressed anger over the University spending £15 505 oo the ‘Say Hello’ youtube video released in July.
All forms of student media, including GUST, GUM and Subcity, are funded through the SRC using the budget the University provides. Over recent years, the amount received by such media groups has had to be cut, due to a decrease in the overall SRC budget. GUST receives just £1000 per annum, fifteen times less than was spent on the production of the ‘Say Hello’ video.
Lisa Hogg, GUST Controller, was extremely disappointed in the amount spent on the video, despite GUST creating similar videos themselves. She said: “If the university had approached us about the video, we would have undoubtedly been able to produce it to at least an equal standard. It is very sad that we were not given the chance to do this.”
GUST is one of the oldest student television channels in the world, being part of Glasgow University for 48 years. However, they are currently unable to afford the new technical equipment needed to maintain the standard of their videos. Currently, GUST is relying on member’s personal cameras to shoot and produce much of their footage.
Hogg went on to say: “GUST produces a number of high quality videos per year that represent Glasgow University in a fantastic light to prospective students, our “It Gets Better” promo video from last year being one such example. The University are well aware of the high quality content we are currently producing, as they promoted our “GUST Guide to Graduation” on their website and twitter back in May.”
Craig Angus, VP of Media and Communication for the SRC, had previously expressed displeasure at the amount spent on the ‘Say Hello’ video. He said: “We weren’t consulted about the creation of the video, and that a figure of such magnitude was spent on the video without our consultation is disappointing.”
The University defended its decision to not involve the SRC in the production. A spokesperson said: “In this instance the SRC were not consulted about the creation of the video but have been involved in other videos the university has produced in the past. For this project, the design and direction remained in house.”
Despite such a disappointment, Lisa Hogg remained upbeat about GUST’s future. She said: “We have a fantastic team this year, and we are doing as much as we can with what we’ve got to work with. No matter what, GUST will continue to work hard at producing high quality videos for students, by students.”
Figures emerged recently indicating website traffic for GUST. Their website has received nearly 20 000 visitors in the last month, whilst the ‘Say Hello’ video has had just over 3000 views since it was released on July 20th.
