It is with great sadness that we are writing these lines.

WIRE, the university newspaper of Copenhagen Business School (CBS), is closing after CBS Senior Management has decided to close the media as part of the CBS budgetary savings process in autumn 2023.

WIRE was created in 2016 based on the principle that CBS needs a journalistic media, offering a platform for all CBS stakeholders to engage in an open and free debate, and to anchor and illuminate CBS’s activities in a constructive and critical manner through independent journalism.

The WIRE Media Board, which is the body formed by CBS stakeholder representatives overseeing WIRE’s editorial line, was informed about it.

Before taking its decision, Senior Management asked WIRE Media Board to come up with a suggestion on whether and, if so, how WIRE could be continued with a significantly reduced budget.

However, reducing the staff of journalists meant that the core principle of WIRE as a journalistic media outlet was no longer realistic.

WIRE Media Board regrets the decision of CBS Management not to prioritise keeping WIRE.

WIRE Media Board believes that the principles from 2016 that created WIRE are hugely relevant for any university that praises openness, dialogue, and community-building. Hence a journalistic media that covers topics relevant for all at CBS (faculty, students, administration) is of strategic importance.

WIRE has been an independent, critical, and constructive voice that has covered the news and topics that matter to all our CBS community.

WIRE has published hundreds of articles, podcasts, and blog posts since its inception, covering topics such as the CBS strategy, the Covid-19 crisis, students and employees’ well-being, CBS values about diversity and inclusion, research about green sustainability, students’ experiences when going on exchange, or research internationalisation. WIRE has also covered important CBS-related events, such as visits from Nobel Prize winners, entrepreneurship events at CBS, or the CBS Female Leadership Academy.

WIRE has received widespread positive feedback and recognition from its readers and contributors, as well as from external media and organisations. It has around 40,000 subscribers to its newsletter.

WIRE has also been a platform for students, staff, and alumni to express their opinions, perspectives, and experiences related to business management, business education and teaching. It has also been a learning and development opportunity for students who have been involved in the production of WIRE content, as well as for researchers who have been coached by WIRE journalists to disseminate their research.

We would like to send our gratitude to the journalists and editors-in-chief who have worked at WIRE during the years. Their professionalism and dedication have been fantastic and they are very much missed.

We would also like to say thank you very much to all our readers through the years. WIRE readership has been highly engaged, with valuable input and reflections.

The closure of WIRE means a loss of a valuable and vital resource for the CBS community.

WIRE has been a very important source of information, as well as a source of inspiration for the CBS community and beyond.

WIRE Media Board urges CBS Senior Management to reconsider its recent and forthcoming decisions, and to find a way to support journalistic media at CBS, in line with the original vision and mission from 2016.

WIRE Media Board also encourages the CBS community to support the idea of an independent and journalistic media at CBS.

WIRE was not just a media outlet; it was a community asset that belonged to all of us at CBS.

Signed: Susana Borrás, Tine Silfvander, Anja Sandfeld Arnsberg, Henrik Johannsen Duus and Stanislas Salavert.

WIRE Media Board consists of representatives from various stakeholders of the CBS community and is responsible for overseeing the editorial line of the journal.

It is represented by: Susana Borrás, Chairperson, Professor, Department of Organization; Henrik Johannsen Duus, Associate Professor, Department of Marketing; Anja Sandfeld Arnsberg, Team Coordinator, Programme Administration Services; Tine Silfvander, Administrative Officer, Department of Management, Society and Communication; Ina Rosen, Deputy Head of Executive Support and Communication; Stanislas Salavert, CBS Students.