The Glasgow Guardian

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Guardian front page from March 2006 with stories on unfair bank charges and the death of a student.

Glasgow University Guardian is the student newspaper of the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It is run by students and funded by advertising revenue and the GUSRC. The paper is tabloid sized and has a circulation of 5000 copies per issue and a readership of 15000 according to independent research by media buyers BAM[1]. The editors for 2008/09 are George Binning and James Porteous. Founded in 1956 as the Gilmorehill Guardian, it changed its name in 1960 to the Glasgow University Guardian under editor Neil MacCormick, International jurist and former member of the European Parliament.

The publication is produced by students of the university on a voluntary basis. None of the posts, including the editor, are paid. The editor must be a matriculated student. However, many non students have contributed to the paper over the years. It came to prominence in 2004 when it won a host of awards, including Best Student Critic, Best Student News Writer, Sky Student Reporter of the Year and Student Journalist of the Year. It continued to win awards at a Scottish and national level in 2005 and 2006.

Investigations

In recent years the Guardian has had a reputation for investigative journalism with many stories first reported by it being picked up by local and national press.

Guardian has reported on sex tourism in Vietnam, racist door policies of Glasgow nightclubs and conducted the first ever independent staff satisfaction survey which revealed grave doubts about the University management strategy. In 2004 Guardian revealed a CIA officer was working as a lecturer in the Politics department and a year later that Glasgow University Union had been spending part of its grant on a pornography channel subscription, money which had been intended for front line student services. The union considered suing the paper for defamation but ultimately decided against this. The paper has also featured an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Alumni

The newspaper has been a launchpad for many high profile media and political figures. Former editors include Scotland's first First Minister Donald Dewar, Andrew Neil the political broadcaster and former editor of The Sunday Times, John Mullin, assistant editor of The Independent, Iain Martin, deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph, Fraser Nelson, associate editor of The Spectator and Political Editor of The Business, James Blake, (Channel 4 News) and William Boyd, author and winner of the Whitbread Award and a Somerset Maugham Award.

Recent graduates include: James Morgan (The Herald), James Cheyne (Sky News)'Ruaridh Arrow '( C4 Dispatches), Gary Anderson (Daily Mirror), Rachel Richardson (News of the World) Aaron Pan (Bloomberg), Anna Hart FHM, Steve Dinneen (Sunday Mail)' Susie Hanson (BBC News24) Emilly Hill (The Evening Standard) Matt Rhodes (BBC World), Graeme Allister (BBC)and David Crow (The Spectator).