Ben Fishwick, editor of Portsmouth’s Pugwash News, tells us about life at the dashboard of a busy student paper and website….

Give us a potted history of Pugwash
Pugwash News was founded in 2007 academic year by the sabbatical officer responsible for media at the time, Alex Harries, and a student volunteer, Jacob Leverett. The newspaper gets its name from our sister publication, Pugwash magazine. For those wondering, the name refers to Portsmouth University guild of writers and student hacks, rather than any popular 90s cartoon.

Pugwash team (Credit: Pugwash News)

Starting off as a 12 page black and white publication in its first year, the paper went to colour and sixteen pages in 2008 and remained so until the 2010 academic year. This year the paper has gone from 16 to 24 pages and seen the launch of a fully functional website on pugwashnews.com.

Other events led to issue 25 being distributed without a front page after an article about university renumeration was pulled, rather unfortunately, after it had gone to print.

Past members have gone on to PR roles, reporters on various local newspapers, specialist journalism (think Crufts) as well as moving on to roles at the NUS and staff positions at the students’ union here.

Who’s involved in the site?
This year the editorial team has almost doubled to twelve editors, and the number of contributors has been consistently high. The newspaper now has dedicated positions for deputy editor, pictures editor, copy editor and marketing manager. Along with the new ‘Downtime’ section, the team has expanded and will hopefully continue to do so.

Currently our main problem is our online presence. The current picture editor, Dan Chesterton, put the site together and launched it, but keeping it up to date and maintained is a big job, one that we currently don’t have anyone doing!

What are the big stories at Portsmouth now?

One of the biggest issue in Portsmouth is the decision by the local council to restrict houses of multiple occupancy, meaning that as a densely populated city more students who live in these types of houses will be forced to move further north in the city. This would mean that a lot of students may have to live much further away from university buildings, it being a city campus. On a much more positive note, a student here has been awarded the title of Poet Laureate of the city, Keli Anne B was awarded it earlier in the month and is going to perform at a number of events across the city.

What are your aspirations for Pugwash?
Hopefully Pugwash News will become something that all students on campus will recognise and we will increase not only our readership but also our reputation within the university. The team want to make the newspaper the place Portsmouth students turn to first to find out what’s going on here. For example, if they heard that funding had been cut to the university library or the council were banning students from living in certain areas of Portsmouth, they would turn to us first because they know we will tell them everything and exactly how it will effect them. It wouldn’t be a case of asking around, or turning to the university website because all students on campus would know that we will be able to tell them exactly what’s going on (whether that be online or in the latest issue). They will know that Pugwash News takes great pride in being able to transmit the voice and concerns of the students by looking out for upcoming news that they need to know.

Most importantly, the team want the newspaper to remain as a independent as possible from the students’ union and university, giving all students a voice on campus, free from any influence.

What media do you and colleagues enjoy reading/watching/listening to?
Most people on the team read a variety of papers, including the i, the Times and (of course) the Guardian. In terms of online, the BBC news website is always great but with revolutions in the Middle East, Al Jazeera has become quite watched. Also, classics like More magazine, Radio 1, and the 60 second news updates on BBC 3. More locally, there are a lot of people on Twitter in Portsmouth, which helps when researching stories.

How healthy is student media right now in your opinion?
Even though we’ve had an excellent year, with increased editorial independence from the sabbatical officers and staff members at the union, things could be better. The team put their life and soul into Pugwash News and our circulation is improving, but there are still so many students on campus that don’t really know what Pugwash News is. The opportunities we are offered at Portsmouth are brilliant, between ourselves, Pure FM, Pugwash magazine, and the TV station we have all media possibilities covered. I think it’s just a case of getting them more well know so we become engaged with so many more students on campus.

Take a read of Pugwash News

Students at Westminster defend 'Mickey Mouse' degrees

While education cuts may appear to threaten drastic consequences for so-called ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees, employers in the creative services industries say that the performance of these graduates are top-notch.

“Employers recognise that the employability of graduates is not solely dependent on vocational training, but is equally dependent on training graduates to think critically about the industries in which they will be working,” says the higher education think-tank Million+.

Meanwhile Trevor Morris, former CEO of Chime Communications Public Relations Group, the UK’s largest PR group, says: “If, for example, you study a PR degree, you prove you are serious about it, you know what it is about and you show commitment to the industry. Given the impact of the creative industries on society it would be extraordinary not to study them at university.”

According to Sally Feldman, head of University of Westminster School of Media Arts and Design, it’s no accident that the media studies graduates progress to relevant jobs. They are acquiring skills and experience as well as academic education. “While their chums that are doing science related subjects are still stuck with lectures, seminars and tutorials,” he says, “they are making films, designing fashion, creating music, negotiating, pitching ideas and selling their work.”

Third year media student at Westminster, Diana Paroiu, says: “Throughout my degree, I studied theory modules, which helped me understand the media industry and practical modules that improved my critical thinking and writing skills. I now feel confident to apply for any job in the media industry.”

According to Million+ the UK has the largest creative sector in the EU and “relative to GDP, probably the largest in the world”. It says the creative industries account for 7.3% of the economy – comparable in size to the financial services industry.

This article was written by Westminster PR, a group of final year PR students who raise awareness and campaign on socially important issues while also promoting study at Westminster University.

Adele James is Head of News at Lancaster University’s long-running radio station Bailrigg FM.

We asked Adele to share some of the highs and lows of being involved in student radio at Bailrigg, the station once managed by Radio 2′s Richard Allinson.

Listen to Bailrigg FM

So what’s the history of Bailrigg?
It’s one of the oldest university radio stations in the country, about 40 odd years old (no one’s quite sure). As ever, we’re in constant rivalry with York, so when they formed a radio station in the 60s Lancaster quickly followed suit. We have a dedicated exec team of about 10 people who ensure that high quality radio is broadcast every day of the term, and that our special shows (ie sport commentary from Lancaster City FC, Christmas Festival and the Roses tournament with York) go ahead seamlessly. We can broadcast around campus on our FM, but most of our listeners listen in via our website, and weirdly we seem to have quite a dedicated following in Russia and Brazil so, we’re not just reaching Lancaster students.

Any famous alumni?
James May, Andy Serkis (right), Richard Fort, Neville Thurlbeck are a few notable people who attended Lancaster. Andy Serkis was quite involved with Bailrigg. BBC2 presenter Richard Allinson was former studio manager at Bailrigg (or University Radio Bailrigg as it was known at the time.)

Tell us about the news team
We have a small but dedicated news team consisting of about 10 people. We have three news shows broadcasting each week – GML (9am – 10am every week day) which is our flagship breakfast show, Newspeak (8pm – 10pm every Monday) which is a bit more serious discussion about local, national and international news, and Have You Heard The News? (1pm – 2pm every Friday) which is concerned with campus and local news only. The format of the show was decided at the start of the year, after a bit of trial and error.

Some of the news team at Bailrigg

Everyone has experience in every show, so everyone knows what’s expected of them. Because it’s on a rota basis, no two GMLs are ever the same but they’re similar in content. I try and swap the rota around so people meet other members of the news team – usually seminars get in the way but everyone knows who everyone is. Bailrigg has quite a good social sec too, so there’s plenty of chance to meet one another.

What do you think of the health of student radio today?
I think student radio is a great opportunity for people to get involved who want to go on to work in broadcasting and media. As people get more alienated (dare I say it?) with the more traditional output of student newspapers and print media, they are turning to alternative forms of broadcast to get their daily fill. Everyone I’ve met involved in student radio, Bailrigg or otherwise, is really passionate about what they do. I think it can only get stronger – we’re more accessible than newspapers, more frequent, and more interactive and offer real competition. It’s not just about getting ahead though – most of our members are DJs who just enjoy playing their favourite music or being able to listen to some of the best new music.

Your broadcasting schedule looks demanding…
Does it? Maybe I’m just so used to it by now it feels normal. It’s not hard to fill airspace. We have a lot of members, most of which are DJs. Non-attendance isn’t really an issue but when it does happen, their show is soon replaced. We always have people who want shows, so it’s not often we have to rely on auto.

What have been your highs at Bailrigg?
It’s a fantastic opportunity. If you want to get into journalism but don’t want to go down the beaten print media track, then radio is ideal. I need all the experience I can get and I do get it with Bailrigg. It’s really helped me when it’s come to look at future work experience and job opportunities. I have managed to interview a few cool people, which is a bizarre experience but all good fun. I also get to listen to a lot of cool music. I usually play The Smiths and New Order at least once during a show so I’m happy with that..

And the lows?
It’s quite time consuming. News needs researching and compiling five days a week. Were this my full-time job, I wouldn’t have a problem, but I have a degree to juggle and a part-time job, so it can get tough. Luckily our news team is quite solid so the output is manageable.

Where do you source news?
We follow the BBC, The Sun and The Metro (they get a bad rap, but they have their uses!) for a lot of our news, as well as the student newspaper. We do try and newsgather ourselves, and I rely heavily on local press releases and a couple of well placed sources for that. News has to interest our student audience. Tuition fees have been a constant discussion point for weeks now. We try not to rattle off the same old tired news, but if there’s something new then we’ll cover it. We do talk a lot about telly news (X Factor is a GML favourite at the minute) because that seems most popular. The headlines are covered by our IRN output, the rest is geared depending on which show it is.

Where would you like to work on graduation?
I quite like the BBC radio stations – their output is reliable, solid and consistent. I’d like to work behind the scenes as a producer or on the news desk in the future, but I don’t have any definite plans. Luckily I have a dedicated and patient mentor who is helping me out – I think the money is now in PR so maybe something to do with that.

What are your feelings on unpaid work experience?
It’s unfortunately a part of the job. I’ve done plenty of unpaid work experience with newspapers, and although it leaves you out of pocket, the experience you get in invaluable. Being able to put that name on your CV is worth its weight in gold. I’ve had to turn down a couple of opportunities simply because they were London based and I haven’t had the money, which is a shame. I’ve been following Girish Gupta’s struggle to get payment from the Indy. I don’t think he’ll win because he agreed to take on the unpaid role, but at least some awareness is being raised about unpaid work, but the papers have no money, they’re not going to start paying people now.

Celebrate your success! Photo: istolethetv

As well as sourcing content opportunities, here at StudentMediaWire we’re keen to celebrate and support the work of student journalists, broadcasters and bloggers.

If you’d like to be featured on the site, get in touch.

There are three ways we can promote your output to future employers and interested audiences.

We can feature you in a profile, with links to your work, a short bio and details of your interests, experiences and skills.

We can feature your work on the site and syndicate it under Creative Commons Attribution License so that it can be re-published anywhere in the world with a credit and link to you.

And if you are an editor or station manager, we will also be quite happy to profile your student media with a piece about it and a look at your team.

To discuss any of these opportunities further, email Luke.

The National Student (TNS), which recently became part of careers-specialists The Big Choice, is looking for up to 52 student editors to take responsibility for a team of campus correspondents at their university.

Editor James Thornhill said: “TNS just keeps getting bigger, and we are looking for two talented Campus Editors (one News and one Sport) on each university campus.

“Getting a job in the media is a hard slog, and making that slog a little easier is what we at TNS are all about! And we do a good job! People who have got involved with TNS now sit at desks at the BBC, NME, the Guardian and one is a newly published author.

“We are part of Big Choice Group, who with 10 years of media experience, work with cool brands like Smirnoff, Superdry, McDonalds, Orange, Red Bull, boohoo, BBC and Microsoft. TNS gets to work with them too – which we like!”

For full details about the positions, see here.