The University Times

The University Times
The front page of The University Times
on January 21, 2014
Format Broadsheet
Editor Eleanor O'Mahony
Deputy editor Donal MacNamee
Founded 2009
Headquarters Mandela House, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
Circulation 10,000
ISSN 2009-261X
Website universitytimes.ie

The University Times is Ireland's leading student newspaper.[1] Published from Trinity College Dublin, it is financially supported by Trinity College Dublin Students' Union but maintains a mutually agreed policy of editorial independence.

It is currently the holder of the award for best all-around non-daily student newspaper in the world, as judged by the US-based Society of Professional Journalists.[2][3]

Published every three weeks in print, the paper consists of a broadsheet newspaper, magazine and culture supplement.[4] In 2015, the newspaper's website had over one million[5] unique readers for the first time.

The current editor, Eleanor O'Mahony, is the tenth person to hold the position since the newspaper replaced the Students' Union's community publication The University Record in 2009, and is the fourth editor independently elected – separate from the Students' Union's Communications Officer. She was the first elected editor to run in a contested race.[6]

History

The University Times was founded in 2009 by Robert Donohoe, who was also elected Communications Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students' Union. In his first editorial, Donohoe wrote about the importance of the free press, writing: "Any measure that attempts to impose a chilling effect on the immutable right of a newspaper to print what it is right to print is failing to protect the members of this College. The paper stands for the right to say just as much as it stands for your right to hear."

The University Times Magazine was founded in 2012, with Tommy Gavin serving as its first editor.

Radius, the paper's Dublin cultural supplement, was founded in 2015 under the editorship of Edmund Heaphy, with Carla King-Molina serving as its first editor.

Format

The University Times newspaper consists of a 20-page broadsheet which is divided into sections: News, InFocus, Comment & Analysis and Sport.

The University Times Magazine consists of a 24-page pullout magazine. A typical issue runs three long features as well as its usual culture sections: Fashion, Music, Literature, Food & Drink, Film & TV. The magazine is unique in that it looks beyond Trinity and Dublin, looking at national and often international politics and developments.

Radius consists of a 20-page pullout magazine focusing on events and culture in both Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. As well as the culture sections working for the magazine, it also has a section for Theatre and for Societies. Its content focuses exclusively on events that are in the city – within a certain "Radius" of Trinity College Dublin.

All sections produce daily online content year-round. The news section concentrates on the news and goings-on of Trinity College Dublin as well as the activities of students' unions and developments in Irish higher education.

Website

The paper's website, located at universitytimes.ie, is built on WordPress with a custom theme. Traffic to the website is primarily driven by social media, where much discussion of current events takes place between students and staff. In recent years the website has grown in prominence, to the point where volunteer writers are often more interested in having their work displayed on the website than in print – a radical change in attitudes from previous years.

The website, built by Edmund Heaphy, has won several international design awards, including best overall news website and best redesign of a news website at the Society for News Design’s (SND) annual conference in San Francisco in 2016.[7]

The newspaper operates an "online first" policy, meaning that online content is prioritised over print, and most content produced by editors and writers does not feature within the print edition. As such, the website's traffic has increased hugely in recent years, with a peak monthly unique readership at just under 150,000 and with one million unique visitors to the website in 2015.

Layout and design

The University Times Headers
The University Times section headers

The nameplate of The University Times is set in Utopia Std with a Semibold Display weight. There is a ligature on the Th in The. The rest of the paper is set in Utopia Std or Whitney of various weights. Each page of the paper contains a header that contains the name of the paper, page number, date, and section indicator. Sections have their own associated colours that are incorporated into the design.

Elected Editors

  • 2009–2010: Robert Donohoe
  • 2010–2011: Tom Lowe
  • 2011–2012: Ronan Costello
  • 2012–2013: Owen Bennet
  • 2013–2014: Leanna Byrne
  • 2014–2015: Samuel Riggs
  • 2015–2016: Edmund Heaphy
  • 2016–2017: Sinéad Baker
  • 2017–2018: Dominic McGrath
  • 2018-2019: Eleanor O'Mahony

Awards

The newspaper was awarded "Newspaper of the Year" at the Irish Student Media Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Former editor Tom Lowe won Irish Student Journalist of the Year in 2011. In 2014, it was once again awarded "the 'Web Design of the Year" award, and received nominations for "Newspaper of the Year".[8] The University Times won the "Publication of the Year" category at the USI Student Achievement Awards. Aisling Curtis won the "Journalist of the Year" award for The University Times.

In 2015, The University Times won Student Publication of the Year for the second time, and Sinéad Baker, the newspaper's Assistant Editor, won "Journalist of the Year". Edmund Heaphy, the newspaper's Deputy Editor and Editor-elect, won the international College News Design contest organised by the Society for News Design and judged at the society's 37th annual conference in Washington DC. The judging panel consisted of Dan Zedek, Design Director and Assistant Managing Editor of the Boston Globe, SND President and Hearst Corporation Presentation Editor, Lee Steele, and Marianne Seregi, the Art Director of The Washington Post Magazine.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Dunbar, Ciarán (1 November 2017). "Dublin student president 'ousted over abortion views'". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "2016 Mark of Excellence Winners and Finalists". Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "University Times wins international award for best non-daily student newspaper". Trinity College Dublin. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "About The University Times". The University Times. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  5. ↑ http://www.universitytimes.ie/2015/12/the-most-read-articles-of-2015/
  6. ↑ MacNamee, Donald (February 22, 2018). "O'Mahony Elected as Editor of The University Times". The University Times.
  7. ↑ http://www.universitytimes.ie/2016/04/in-san-francisco-the-university-times-wins-six-international-awards-including-best-newspaper-design-and-best-website/
  8. ↑ Oxygen.ie Archived 2014-08-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Universitytimes.ie
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