Student (newspaper)
Encyclopedia
The Student is a weekly British
independent newspaper
produced by student
s at the University of Edinburgh
. Founded in 1887 by author Robert Louis Stevenson
, it is the oldest student newspaper in the United Kingdom and held the title of Best Student Newspaper in Scotland, awarded by the Herald
Student Press Awards in 2006 and 2007. The Student recently regained the title in 2009, beating previous year's winner, the Glasgow University Guardian
. The Student held the title in 2010.
.
All staff are volunteers, who fit work for the newspaper around their studies. The newspaper is distributed on a Tuesday and usually consists of 28 pages. It has a physical circulation
of 8,000 copies per issue and is read by some 30,000 people in Edinburgh
.
By the 1970s, The Student had become a weekly newspaper, roughly Berliner
in format. The running of the newspaper was by this stage in the control of the Student Publications Board, a body independent of the university. It was during the first half of the 1970s that Gordon Brown was a news editor. The type of content had shifted to reflect the times: a typical copy would contain pages on news, the environment, society, features, politics and entertainment. By this point, the price had risen to five pence.
The 1990s saw the introduction of computers to the newspaper; the offices were also moved from the Student Publications Board offices at 1 Buccleuch Place to their present location in the Pleasance
, anecdotally held to be space reclaimed after the closure of a monkey-testing lab. Initially, the newspaper was laid out on Apple Macintosh computers. During this period, Darius Danesh
wrote - briefly - for the paper, as a film and music critic.
In 1992 Student, which had been selling for 30 pence, was dropped by the student union as part of a cost-cutting exercise. A grant of £5,000 from the University Development Fund allowed it to continue as a student society and regain its editorial independence, distributing on campus free of charge.
The paper, now a tabloid in format, won the Herald
Student Media Award for best newspaper in 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 and the Guardian Student Media Awards
for 'Best Newspaper on a Shoestring' in 2001. The paper was redesigned several times in the lead-up to the millennium, eventually switching to PC
s for layout, and winning the Herald Award for its design in 2004. After failing to win the same award the following year, the paper was again radically redesigned in 2006.
Many of Students former writers have gone on to become internationally renowned journalists and politicians. Past staff members of Student include the British
Prime Minister
, Gordon Brown
; Lord Steel
; the late Robin Cook
; and many of Fleet Street's reporters and editors. Recent graduates include Guardian
staff writer and editor Helen Pidd and BBC
radio reporter Chris Page.
was goaded by the Student editor Anna Coote (now head of social policy for the think tank NEF
) to support the call for contraceptive pills to be available at the University Health Centre. He used a sermon at St. Giles' Cathedral
in January 1968, to resign the post in protest against the Student Representative Council's views on "pot and pills." This sermon was published under the title "Another King". Anna Coote was subsequently suspended as editor by the SRC. The following rectorial election was won by Kenneth Allsop
.
, who had published controversial work into race and intelligence, and had castigated feminist promiscuity, single-parenting and paedohysteria, was asked to leave the university in 1997 for bringing it into "disrepute". The Student had been instrumental in calling for his sacking after his book, The g Factor, was published. Finally, Brand was compensated for unfair dismissal; and Student published in 2003 a further example of his psychorealism, urging girls to 'keep their (pubic) hair on' so as to improve their romantic chances.
climate had caused a downturn in advertising, something being widely claimed by other newspapers at the time. The newspaper was relaunched at the start of the 2002-3 academic year and advertising sales, which had been traditionally managed internally, began to be handled by the advertising department of the Students' Association, a system which continues today. The paper recovered quickly, returning to weekly publication with a redesign soon after the start of the next academic year.
, followed; that the listings in question were traditionally deliberately offensive was not taken into account, due to the out-of-context nature of the forwarded message.
and nudity in the media, accompanied by two full-page, semi-naked glamour model
photographs: one male, one female. The newspaper received a complaint from the university's Islamic Society (ISocEd) as a result. The local newspaper Edinburgh Evening News
published a story regarding the feature, which was subsequently picked up by several national newspapers. The photograph of the female model - who was wearing underwear and a scarf covering her nipples - was reprinted alongside each of these articles.
The majority of the coverage was seen by many as wildly misleading; newspapers claimed "floods of complaints" and that the female model was in hiding. Furthermore, although Catherine Harper of Scottish Women Against Pornography said that "[This] will lead students to only view women as a pair of breasts", little mention was made of the male model also published. However, The Sun
defended the publication of a page similar to its own and even offered the model a place in its paper.
Again, the Students' Association and university representatives declined to comment on the feature, and the story died out.
2010/11
2009/10
2008/9
2007/8
2006/7
2005/6
2004/5
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
independent newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
produced by student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. Founded in 1887 by author Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, it is the oldest student newspaper in the United Kingdom and held the title of Best Student Newspaper in Scotland, awarded by the Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
Student Press Awards in 2006 and 2007. The Student recently regained the title in 2009, beating previous year's winner, the Glasgow University Guardian
Glasgow University Guardian
Glasgow University Guardian is the student newspaper of the University of Glasgow.Founded in 1956 as the Gilmorehill Guardian, it changed its name in 1960 to the Glasgow University Guardian under editor Neil MacCormick...
. The Student held the title in 2010.
The Student today
The newspaper has been independent of the university since 1992, but maintains a commercial agreement with the Edinburgh University Students' AssociationEdinburgh University Students' Association
Edinburgh University Students' Association provides services, representation and welfare support to matriculated students of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.-Composition:...
.
All staff are volunteers, who fit work for the newspaper around their studies. The newspaper is distributed on a Tuesday and usually consists of 28 pages. It has a physical circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
of 8,000 copies per issue and is read by some 30,000 people in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
History
Developing from Stevenson's original publication, The Student quickly became a small weekly magazine, published by the Students' Representative Council. A typical, turn-of-the-century edition of The Student would open with a short biography of a notable person and an editorial. The remaining content largely comprised notes from various societies, sports results, poetry and literary reviews, and profiles of newly-appointed lecturers. The magazine was supported by advertising, but cost two pence.By the 1970s, The Student had become a weekly newspaper, roughly Berliner
Berliner (format)
Berliner, or "midi", is a newspaper format with pages normally measuring about . The Berliner format is slightly taller and marginally wider than the tabloid/compact format; and is both narrower and shorter than the broadsheet format....
in format. The running of the newspaper was by this stage in the control of the Student Publications Board, a body independent of the university. It was during the first half of the 1970s that Gordon Brown was a news editor. The type of content had shifted to reflect the times: a typical copy would contain pages on news, the environment, society, features, politics and entertainment. By this point, the price had risen to five pence.
The 1990s saw the introduction of computers to the newspaper; the offices were also moved from the Student Publications Board offices at 1 Buccleuch Place to their present location in the Pleasance
Pleasance
The Pleasance is a street in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is largely residential, although the University of Edinburgh owns property in the area.-University of Edinburgh union:...
, anecdotally held to be space reclaimed after the closure of a monkey-testing lab. Initially, the newspaper was laid out on Apple Macintosh computers. During this period, Darius Danesh
Darius Danesh
Darius Campbell , also known as Darius Danesh or simply Darius, is a British Iranian platinum-selling singer-songwriter, a West End stage actor, operatic baritone, Sunday Times best-selling author, and an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust.He established himself as a popular West End leading...
wrote - briefly - for the paper, as a film and music critic.
In 1992 Student, which had been selling for 30 pence, was dropped by the student union as part of a cost-cutting exercise. A grant of £5,000 from the University Development Fund allowed it to continue as a student society and regain its editorial independence, distributing on campus free of charge.
The paper, now a tabloid in format, won the Herald
The Herald (Glasgow)
The Herald is a broadsheet newspaper published Monday to Saturday in Glasgow, and available throughout Scotland. As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 47,226, giving it a lead over Scotland's other 'quality' national daily, The Scotsman, published in Edinburgh.The 1889 to 1906 editions...
Student Media Award for best newspaper in 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 and the Guardian Student Media Awards
Guardian Student Media Awards
The Guardian Student Media Awards are an annual UK-wide student journalism competition run by The Guardian newspaper.-History:Since 1947, The National Union of Students have run a student journalism competition of some kind. In 1978, The Guardian joined forces with the NUS for the inaugural...
for 'Best Newspaper on a Shoestring' in 2001. The paper was redesigned several times in the lead-up to the millennium, eventually switching to PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s for layout, and winning the Herald Award for its design in 2004. After failing to win the same award the following year, the paper was again radically redesigned in 2006.
Many of Students former writers have gone on to become internationally renowned journalists and politicians. Past staff members of Student include the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
; Lord Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
; the late Robin Cook
Robin Cook
Robert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
; and many of Fleet Street's reporters and editors. Recent graduates include Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
staff writer and editor Helen Pidd and BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio reporter Chris Page.
Resignation of the Rector
Having been elected rector in 1966, Malcolm MuggeridgeMalcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy...
was goaded by the Student editor Anna Coote (now head of social policy for the think tank NEF
New Economics Foundation
The New Economics Foundation is a British think-tank.NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit with the aim of working for a "new model of wealth creation, based on equality, diversity and economic stability"....
) to support the call for contraceptive pills to be available at the University Health Centre. He used a sermon at St. Giles' Cathedral
St. Giles' Cathedral
St Giles' Cathedral, more properly termed the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. Its distinctive crown steeple is a prominent feature of the city skyline, at about a third of the way down the Royal Mile which runs from the Castle to...
in January 1968, to resign the post in protest against the Student Representative Council's views on "pot and pills." This sermon was published under the title "Another King". Anna Coote was subsequently suspended as editor by the SRC. The following rectorial election was won by Kenneth Allsop
Kenneth Allsop
Kenneth Allsop was a British broadcaster, author and naturalist. He was a regular reporter on the BBC current affairs programme "Tonight" during the 1960s. He also was Rector of Edinburgh University and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize...
.
Chris Brand
University lecturer Chris BrandChris Brand
Christopher Richard Brand is an English psychological and psychometric researcher who gained media attention for his controversial statements on race and intelligence and pedophilia. He went to Queen Elizabeth's, Barnet, and is a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford, and a fellow of Nuffield...
, who had published controversial work into race and intelligence, and had castigated feminist promiscuity, single-parenting and paedohysteria, was asked to leave the university in 1997 for bringing it into "disrepute". The Student had been instrumental in calling for his sacking after his book, The g Factor, was published. Finally, Brand was compensated for unfair dismissal; and Student published in 2003 a further example of his psychorealism, urging girls to 'keep their (pubic) hair on' so as to improve their romantic chances.
Financial collapse
In early 2002, The Students continuous run came to an end when the newspaper faced "five-figure debts". The official explanation was that the post-September 11September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
climate had caused a downturn in advertising, something being widely claimed by other newspapers at the time. The newspaper was relaunched at the start of the 2002-3 academic year and advertising sales, which had been traditionally managed internally, began to be handled by the advertising department of the Students' Association, a system which continues today. The paper recovered quickly, returning to weekly publication with a redesign soon after the start of the next academic year.
Anti-Gaelic bigotry'
The newspaper caused some controversy in 2004 when a television listing, mocking the Scottish Gaelic, was republished around the internet A flurry of angry, concerned and threatening letters, largely condemning all who worked at the newspaper as bigotsRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, followed; that the listings in question were traditionally deliberately offensive was not taken into account, due to the out-of-context nature of the forwarded message.
'Page Three' feature
In early 2005, The Student published an editorial discussing Page ThreePage Three girl
Page Three is a tabloid newspaper feature consisting of a topless photograph of a female glamour model, usually printed on the paper's third page...
and nudity in the media, accompanied by two full-page, semi-naked glamour model
Glamour photography
Glamour photography is a genre of photography whereby the subjects, usually female, are portrayed in a romantic or sexually alluring way. The subjects may be fully clothed or seminude, but glamour photography stops short of deliberately arousing the viewer and being pornographic photography.Glamour...
photographs: one male, one female. The newspaper received a complaint from the university's Islamic Society (ISocEd) as a result. The local newspaper Edinburgh Evening News
Edinburgh Evening News
The Edinburgh Evening News is a local newspaper based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is published daily . It has a circulation of 68,000 and is owned by Johnston Press, which also owns The Scotsman and many regional titles throughout the UK.Much of the copy contained in the Evening News concerns local...
published a story regarding the feature, which was subsequently picked up by several national newspapers. The photograph of the female model - who was wearing underwear and a scarf covering her nipples - was reprinted alongside each of these articles.
The majority of the coverage was seen by many as wildly misleading; newspapers claimed "floods of complaints" and that the female model was in hiding. Furthermore, although Catherine Harper of Scottish Women Against Pornography said that "[This] will lead students to only view women as a pair of breasts", little mention was made of the male model also published. However, The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
defended the publication of a page similar to its own and even offered the model a place in its paper.
Again, the Students' Association and university representatives declined to comment on the feature, and the story died out.
Pure Controversy
In November 2006 The Student ran a series of front pages highlighting the Christian Union's Pure course which allegedly taught that homosexuality was a "curable condition." The main complaint of The Student was that the course was being taught at the Chaplaincy Centre, which is a university building. This raised concerns in regards to the university's anti-discrimination policy. What followed, was a temporary ban of the Pure course and a subsequent threats of litigation. The story became a national press fiasco, though The Student was one of the first to break the story.JK Rowling Interview
In early March 2008, The Student published an interview with JK Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series. Rowling told The Student journalist Adeel Amini that she had considered suicide during her mid-20s, and that she had overcome depression through counselling. On 23 March, newspapers from around the world, including USA Today, the British newspaper The Times and several major Indian newspapers published the excerpt from Amini's interview.Princess Royal Appointment Headline Controversy
In October 2011, The Student ran the headline "A fucking disgrace" http://www.studentnewspaper.org/news/808-a-fucking-disgrace for its coverage of the appointment and inauguration of Princess Anne as Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. The quote was from a student on-looker for the protests outside Old College. University administration banned the particular copy of the Student from being distributed in academic buildings, citing offense caused to their staff members as the reason.Recent editors
2011/12- 2nd Set: Zoe Blah & Becky Chan
- 1st Set: Anna Feintuck and Eloise Kohler
2010/11
- 3rd Set: Julia Symmes Cobb & Dan Heap
- 2nd Set: Luke Healey & Anna MacSwan
- 1st Set: James Ellingworth & Rick Lane
2009/10
- 3rd Set: Shan Bertelli & Kim McLaughlan
- 2nd Set: Susan Robinson & Charlie King
- 1st Set: Fern Brady & Craig Wilson
2008/9
- 3rd Set: Ed Ballard & Lyle Brennan
- 2nd Set: Lee Bunce & Neil Pooran
- 1st Set: Jenny Baldwin & Liz Rawlings
2007/8
- 3rd Set: Jasper Jackson & Arianna Reiche
- 2nd Set: John Herrman & Dominic Hinde
- 1st Set: Adeel Amini & Briony Pollard
2006/7
- 3rd Set: Rory Reynolds & Jess Winch
- 2nd Set: Vernon Baxter & Chris Cornwell
- 1st Set: Miles Johnson & Devon Walshe
2005/6
- 3rd Set: Laura Battle & Paul Traynor
- 2nd Set: Fiona Kerr & Jonathan Liew
- 1st Set: Emily Crowsley & Alex Kay
2004/5
- 3rd Set: Julie Balazs and Andy Milne
- 2nd Set: Stewart Bingham and Sam Friedman
- 1st Set: Alisa Mandrigin and Mike Sterry
Notable former editors and staff members
- Gordon BrownGordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
(former Prime Minister) - Robin CookRobin CookRobert Finlayson Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Livingston from 1983 until his death, and notably served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001....
(former Foreign Secretary) - David SteelDavid SteelDavid Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
(former leader, Liberal Party) - James Kirkup (Political Editor, The Scotsman)
- Dan Milmo (Transport Correspondent, Guardian)
- Tom Kelly (senior reporter, Daily Mail)
- Graeme Virtue (Arts Editor, Sunday Herald)
- Oliver Wright (News Editor, The Times)
- Simon Stuart (Super Sub, The Herald)
- Sam Lister (Deputy News Editor, The Times)
- Kathy LongKathy LongKathy Long is an American retired five time world kickboxing champion and mixed martial arts fighter.- Biography :Long was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was raised in Sunny Mead, California...
(BBC Scotland) - Tom Gordon (Scottish Political Reporter, Sunday Times)
- Caroline Gammell (Chief Reporter, Press Association)
- Gordon Darroch (The Herald)
- Russell Fallis (ex-Scottish Political Reporter, Press Association)
- Stephen Phelan (Staff Writer, Sunday Herald)
- Laura Peek, (News Reporter, The Times and Daily Mail)
- Nandini Sukumar (Senior Reporter, Bloomberg)
- Noam FriedlanderNoam FriedlanderNoam Friedlander is an author, scriptwriter, TV reviewer, columnist, interviewer and feature writer. She has written 13 non-fiction books on subjects ranging from sport, religion, entertainment and children’s names as well as having over a decade of experience as a journalist for various...
(Author of Celebrity Biography) - Helen Pidd (Commissioning Editor, Guardian G2 Features)
- Alistair Harkness (Film Reviewer, The Scotsman)
- Alastair Jamieson (Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Scotsman)
- Rosie Anderson (News Reporter, BBC Online)
- Jon Kelly (News Reporter, BBC Online; ex-Scottish Daily Mirror)
- Chris Page (News Reporter, BBC Radio)
- Doug Gowan (Chief executive, Open Learning Partnership)