Te Huihui Tran and Ashleigh Putt-fallows (Te Ao Māori Co-Editors) Jia Sharma and Mauatua Fa'ara-Reynolds (Staff Writers) Salient is the weekly students' magazine of the Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association (VUWSA) at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

The student magazine of Victoria University of Wellington has been published under a number of different titles since the early twentieth century: Spike (1902–1964), Smad (1930–1937), and finally Salient (1938–present).

The editor is appointed and employed under a fixed term contract that covers roughly the beginning to end of the academic year.

Notable past editors include former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, editor of Metro magazine Simon Wilson, independent publisher Roger Steele (NZOM),[4] Queen's Counsel Hugh Rennie, independent investigative writers such as David Harcourt[5] and New Zealand Listener writer Toby Manhire.

[9][10] Previous comics have included Being Blind,[11] Man, ASCII (originally published in Waikato University's Nexus' magazine'),[9] Newtown Ghetto Anger,[12] The Chronicle, Drunk Duck,[13] Uni Life, Super Academic Friends,[14] The Academic Idol Comic, and G33K by Sparx.

Salient TV videos include interviews, comedy sketches, and other miscellaneous content that focuses on student interests.

In this period, many of the editors and contributors to Salient were members of the Wellington Marxist-Leninist Organisation (MILO), a Maoist-aligned group with substantial student membership at the time.

"[28] Unfortunately, Steele’s editing successors did not continue this mahi to the same degree; "it was not until 1997 that Te Ao Mārama was enshrined in VUWSA’s constitution, obliging Salient to produce a Māori language issue annually.

"[28] Hurley's reporting was partly responsible for pushing Victoria University to enforce a sexual harassment policy in 1986, and work to give students support around the issue.

[28] In 1995, there was controversy surrounding the editor Vic Waghorn, such that a Special General Meeting of VUWSA was called in June to dismiss her from the role.

In response, Waghorn managed to change the cover of the final issue of Salient "to a cartoon depiction of cunnilingus captioned 'suck it hard'".

[30] In September 2005, the Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University obtained a court injunction to prevent an issue of Salient from being distributed[31][32] – thought to be the first time in the magazine's history this has happened.

[33] In April 2006, Salient published a short piece which put Han Chinese people, along with animals like poisonous snakes and penguins, in a list of "top five species we should be wary of".

Accused of being blatantly racist, editor James Robinson apologised, saying "It was a ridiculous jab that was honestly so stupid I didn't even think twice about it."

Nick Kelly, 2006 Students' Association President, posted an apology calling the article "xenophobic and inappropriate ... in poor taste".

To promote this article the cover that week depicted a naked, yet to be identified, Salient staffer draped in a Chinese flag, with Hu Jintao's face photoshopped onto their own.

The cover invoked a strong reaction from the Wellington Chinese community, with students removing the magazine from distribution at the university's Karori Campus.

Following this disruption, the Chinese Students' Association of Victoria University presented a petition of 133 signatures calling for an apology.

[36] In July 2009, Salient editor Jackson Wood courted controversy by announcing the "Lundy 500", an event whereby "teams of vehicles ... [would] travel from Petone to Palmerston North as convicted double murderer Mark Lundy did in 2000, before murdering wife Christine and daughter Amber, according to the prosecution at his 2002 trial."

Wood argued that the "event was designed to draw attention to some of the inconsistencies in the New Zealand legal system", and emphasised that he wasn't encouraging anyone to break the law.

Wood apologised to the Lundy family and wrote that: "He acknowledged that their viewpoints were not adequately taken into account before the event was announced on Friday, and that there were other ways for this point to be communicated".