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Europe’s oldest student paper becoming ‘sinking ship’ warns editor

The editor of Europe’s oldest student newspaper has warned the title is becoming a “sinking ship” because it is no longer being read in university buildings.

Manvir Dobb, outgoing editor in chief of Edinburgh-based paper The Student, has hit out in a strongl-worded front page editorial headlined “Everything is f*cked.”

The Student was established in 1887 by Robert Louis Stevenson, and other famous names to have written for it include former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and ITV news anchor Tom Bradby.

The title’s management recently vetoed a call for it to become an online-only publication.

The Student

In the editorial, Manvir wrote: “We are the oldest student newspaper in Europe, but our issues are no longer being picked up and this title is not going to save a sinking ship.

“Rather than reading The Student to find out what is going on in this university, you are more likely to read Facebook pages such as Edifess, or even the Edinburgh Tab. And I am not blaming readers for it because the editorial team does the exact same thing.”

Manvir told Scotland on Sunday the piece was intended to draw attention to the paper and its predicament.

She said: “When you look back through the archives, you realise how much the title has changed.

“Twenty years ago people were writing letters to the editor, and offering their thoughts on student activity as a whole.

“We realised our paper wasn’t picking up on that anymore. The content had changed. A student paper should be fun – but now it is running more and more essays.

“There is a lack of engagement between the paper and the students.”

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  • February 26, 2020 at 11:46 am
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    I’m surprised this above all print publications has survived in its current format for as long as it has bearing in mind the general demographic of the student is exactly the kind more likely to be on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn – and probably in that order.

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