London Student

"London Student" is the newspaper of the University of London Union. It began publishing in 1979. It is an editorially independent publication with ultimate control over content and editorial appointments vested in the elected full-time Editor.

It distributes 12,500 copies fortnightly during termtime throughout the university year, equating to approximately 12 issues annually. 20,000 copies of 2007's Freshers' Issue were distributed, up from 14,000 in 2006.

Editors

The editor of London Student is chosen annually by an election in which all University of London students are entitled to vote. The editor for 2008-9 is Kat Lay.

Previous editors include:

*2007-8: Elinor Zuke
*2006-7: John Kenchington
*2005-6: Patrick Ward
*2004-5: Alexi Duggins
*2003-4: Lila Allen
*2002-3: Clare-Marie White
*2001-2: Fiona Sibley
*2000-1: Stuart Butchers
*1999-2000: Chris Campbell
*1998-9: Tom Belton
*1997-8: John Handelaar
*1996-7: Sarah Shenker
*1995-6: Ben Oliver
*1994-5: Kevin Ashton
*1993-4: Liz Llewellyn
*1991-2 Louise Clarke
*1990-1: Natasha Roe
*1982-3: Chris Ward
*1981-2: Sarah Lewthwaite
*1980-1: Paul Segal
*1991-2: Natalie Rodriguez

Notable stories

In March 2006, the newspaper broke the story that the Mail on Sunday newspaper had offered student reporters money to infiltrate and record meetings of student Islamic societies in the wake of the London bombings of 7 July 2005. The report, headlined 'Nailed on Sunday', created some international media coverage, although the response in the UK was more muted. The Mail on Sunday responded by saying that they were investigating "a subject of great public interest" and had acted "repsonsibly", but did not deny the allegations. [http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,1728243,00.html MoS under fire from student press | Media | MediaGuardian ] ]

Also in spring 2006, the paper was one of few in the country to take a strong supportive stance of lecturers regarding the AUT and NATFHE (now UCU) joint strike action as they fought for better pay and conditions. The story led the paper from Christmas onwards, with the exception of the issue containing 'Nailed on Sunday'.

Design

For many years, the newspaper was a red-top tabloid. This changed under Patrick Ward's editorship, with a transition toward a midmarket newspaper that better matched the more serious journalistic style of the paper's contributors. The cultural pullout section also returned, under the new name of 'Play'.

Play

"Play" is the London Student's culture pullout section. It has various pages devoted to certain cultural coverage, including "Stage", "Screen" and "Music". Impressively, each section often gains access to national press events, previews and interviews with significant artists or people prominent within each cultural discipline: Roots Manuva, Park Chan-Wook, Iain Rankin and British Sea Power are just some of the people featured in the magazine.

Competition

Unlike the majority of UK student newspapers, "London Student" competes with other student-led publications for a readership. The newspapers and magazines of the constituent colleges of the University of London complement the newspaper's coverage of events. Although the college magazines, such as University College London's "Pi", King's College London's "Roar" and Queen Mary, University of London's Cub, generally offer a different style of coverage to London Student, there is genuine competition in terms of breaking news from three weekly newspapers: "Felix" at Imperial College London, "The Beaver" at the London School of Economics and "The Founder" at Royal Holloway, University of London. Editions of the commercial "The Sanctuary" newspaper added marginally to competition at University College London and the London School of Economics during the academic year 2007-8, although the student's unions of the two college have curtailed this effect by denying the Sanctuary space inside their buildings.

ennet

"Sennet" was the direct predecessor of London Student. It was published from at least 1954. Its editor in 1959 was Jean Rook, later best known for her long association with the "Daily Express" where she was nicknamed the "first lady of Fleet Street".

Extensive, though incomplete, archives of both newspapers are held at both the University of London's library, and the British Library Newspaper section in Colindale.

External links

* [http://www.london-student.net/ London Student website]

*London Student [http://www.ulu.co.uk/student_marketing/index.php?page=view&page_id=10352 advertising information] from the ULU website

References