The Cheese Grater is to close after 168 years of exist- ence. The controversial maga- zine upset readers with ruthless journalistic practice such as waterboarding election can- didates and paying the College Chap- lain for information, but the final straw was the constant debilitating legal threat that followed more than a century of clear libel. The magazine has been described by UCL Union as an “uninsurable risk”, and as “fuck- ing disgusting” and “too self-refer- ential” by others.
Former Cheese Grater Edi- tor Alex McKenna commented: “This is a deep stain on the his- tory of a fine institution. The Cheese Grater has fallen far be- low the minimum moral stand-rds expected not just of students, but of human beings. The magazine was Guardian Small Budget Publication of the Year in 2006, and now it’s in tatters. This is a great, great shame.”
The lobby group “Friends of Responsible Free Speech” has ex- pressed pleasure following the deci- sion to close the publication. Spokes- man Bartin Meale said: “No longer will we hear the sick ‘news of the screws’ type trash that these prurient pricks seem certain to peddle. I look forward to getting on with my life.”
The Cheese Grater on Sunday is due to launch in September.