There's a bit of fuss around Meanjin, the Melbourne literary/cultural journal published out of the University of Melbourne. Melbourne University Press (MUP) and Meanjin are wholly-owned subsidiary companies of the University of Melbourne. Meanjin is going to come under the control of and it is feared that it will lose its independence.

Meanjin's historical role in Australian cultural life is second to none but it does not have an online presence.

It is generally agreed that quality of the magazine has been consistently outstanding under Ian Britain its current editor, whilst transforming the journal into one that common readers are interested in.

The cause for concern is that Melbourne University will not give Meanjin the same level of financial support it gives the Australian Literary Review ALR) run out of Murdoch's Australian newspaper.

The University of Melbourne has decided to apply financial tests to a non-profit-making publication that is in practice subsidised by generations of editors who have edited it.

The University of Melbourne could make a substantial investment in Australian public culture by both defending the magazine's in-print editorial independence, and by digitalizing Meanjin's extraordinary archives and putting them online.

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