Northumbria Student

Northumbria Student masthead 2006.

Northumbria Student was a student newspaper produced by and for members of Northumbria University; Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

The monthly published paper was established in May 2004, and is editorially independent of both Northumbria Students' Union and Northumbria University. Although it has ceased to publish, from August 2011 attempts were made by former students to start a student-run online newspaper also called Northumbria Student.

History

The newspaper, still in its infancy compared to more established University newspapers and the weekly The Courier at Newcastle University, began life as a 20-page first issue in May 2004 - the only issue of that academic year - under founding editor Katherine Graham. The team produced a magazine version of Northumbria Student over the Summer holidays which was sent out to all freshers starting at Northumbria University that September. Graham edited two further editions of an extended 28-page format before leaving to join NSR fm. In the academic year 2004-05 there were four issues, including a January issue which was the first under the joint editorship of Sarah Bailey and Steven Martin. In 2005-06 the role of unpaid and part-time editor was integrated into the annual NSU elections for the first time, as a 'non-executive' position, with Ged Howard being elected. The following academic year the newspaper received more support from Union staff and used the Students' Union website to recruit regular writers.

Northumbria Student ceased publication at the end of the 2008 academic year. It was replaced by a monthly current affairs magazine named 'Nu:Life'.

Monthly content

Northumbria Student is a mixture of light-weight news and features, containing both regional and national news that is considered to be of interest to those studying at Northumbria. However, it has covered a number of more serious stories associated with the University, such as the 2005 lecturers' strike. Many editions have contributions from members of the student union Executive.

The entertainment section is called Poly Scene, a parody of the University's former life as Newcastle Polytechnic, the name often used in a derogatory fashion by students of Newcastle University who still refer to Northumbria students as "Poly Kids".

The music section contains interviews and reviews of gigs from the wider local area. Past interviewees include The Go! Team, The Futureheads, Maxïmo Park, Bowling for Soup, The Longcut and American Hi-Fi.

The sport section, Poly Sport, was in 2005-06 compiled by Sports Editor Dan Warburton, who reported on a variety of university sports teams. Warburton's interviews included those with Newcastle Falcons' Matt Burke, Jamie Noon and Jonny Wilkinson, which resulted in him receiving the Media Volunteer of the Year Award at the Volunteer Evening in May 2006.

References

External links

• Northumbria Students' Union
• 'Northumbria University'
• "Northumbria Student", Northumbriastudent.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012