Palatinate is the award-winning official student newspaper of Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

 and is one of Britain's oldest and best-known student publications, having celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008. The paper was named NUS/Independent

The Independent

The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

 Student Newspaper of the Year in 2001. Notable former editors include George Alagiah

George Alagiah

George Maxwell Alagiah OBE is a British newsreader, journalist and television news presenter.Since 3 December 2007, he has been the sole presenter of the BBC News at Six and has also been the main presenter of GMT on BBC World News since its launch on 1 February 2010...

, Hunter Davies

Hunter Davies

Edward Hunter Davies is a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster, perhaps best known for writing the only authorised biography of The Beatles.- Early life :...

, Piers Merchant

Piers Merchant

Piers Rolf Garfield Merchant was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Newcastle upon Tyne Central from 1983 to 1987, and then MP for Beckenham from 1992 until he resigned in October 1997 following a scandal.- Education :He was educated at Nottingham High...

, Timothy Laurence

Timothy Laurence

Vice Admiral Sir Timothy James Hamilton Laurence, KCVO, CB, ADC is a senior British naval officer and the second husband of HRH The Princess Royal, the only daughter of HM The Queen...

, Jeremy Vine

Jeremy Vine

Jeremy Guy Vine is a British author, journalist and news presenter for the BBC. He is known for his direct interview style and exclusive reporting from war-torn areas throughout Africa...

 and Harold Evans

Harold Evans

Sir Harold Matthew Evans is a British-born journalist and writer who was editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981. He has written various books on history and journalism...

.

The name of the newspaper derives from the colour Palatinate, a shade of purple closely associated with the university and derived from County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

's political history as a County Palatine

County palatine

A county palatine or palatinate is an area ruled by an hereditary nobleman possessing special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom or empire. The name derives from the Latin adjective palatinus, "relating to the palace", from the noun palatium, "palace"...

.

Details

Palatinate is published on a fortnightly basis during term time, and its editor

Editor in chief

An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...

s are elected on a termly basis; its constitution prevents an editorship lasting more than two terms

Term of office

Term of office or term in office refers to the length of time a person serves in a particular office.-Prime Minister:In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister has no term limits...

. Although the Durham Students Union technically subsidies the paper, revenues from advertising outstrip the cost of production, ensuring that the publication actually makes money for the DSU. Despite the potential conflict of interest arising from the student union subsidising the paper, Palatinate often publishes articles critical of the union. However, the publication does not have complete editorial independence: since it is owned by the DSU, any libel/defamation cases would be brought against the union as a whole. As a result, union officers check the content for any potentially libellous material before the newspaper goes to print, and retain power of censorship.

The paper reports news about Durham University and its sporting activities in addition to publishing local news, arts coverage, a variety of features and a comment section. Since 2004, Palatinate has been freely available and is now distributed to a variety of locations across the main university campus. Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

 also receives copies. Each edition is printed in full colour.

History

• The first issue of Palatinate was published in 1948.
• In 1999, Palatinate was named runner-up in the Student Newspaper of the Year category of the Guardian Student Media Awards
  Guardian Student Media Awards
  The Guardian Student Media Awards are an annual UK-wide student journalism competition run by The Guardian newspaper.-History:Since 1947, The National Union of Students have run a student journalism competition of some kind. In 1978, The Guardian joined forces with the NUS for the inaugural...
  
  .
• For three academic years from 2001 to 2004, Palatinate was published in broadsheet format. In October 2004 it reverted to its current tabloid format.
• In 2001, Palatinate was named the NUS/Independent
  The Independent
  The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
  
   Student Newspaper of the Year.
• In November 2003, reporter Oliver Brown was runner-up in the Best Student Reporter category of the NUS National Student Media Awards.
• In January 2004 Palatinate became a free publication. This was achieved by greatly increasing circulation, which drew in more advertising revenue.
• In October 2004 the paper moved from a broadsheet to tabloid format in changes overseen by Tim Roach and Christopher Lamb.
• In 2005, under Lamb's editorship, the paper stopped receiving direct funding from Durham Students' Union
  Durham Students' Union
  The Durham Students' Union is a body, set up as the Durham Colleges Students’ Representative Council in 1899 and renamed in 1969, with the intention of representing and providing welfare and services for the students of the University of Durham in England.-Location:DSU occupies and manages Dunelm...
  
  , causing an increase the amount of advertising needed. The Students' Union still provides Palatinate with office space and computing facilities.
• In December 2007, a new Palatinate website was launched. The style and function is similar to the websites of The Guardian
  The Guardian
  The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
  
  and The Times
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  national newspapers.
• In June 2008, content from Palatinate was showcased in the inaugural issue of FS magazine as an example of "the best of student journalism".
• In November 2008, under the co-editorship of Maz Farookhi and Emily Purser, Palatinate launched Indigo, an arts and features pull-out supplement. The newspaper also upgraded to an unusually thick, sheer white paper type for printing purposes and celebrated its 700th edition.
• In January 2010, under the co-editorship of Liza Miller and Vincent McAviney, "Indigo" was relaunched, a new sports supplement launched named "The Locker Room", and the main paper was upgraded from tabloid size to Berliner size.

Former editors

• Michaelmas Term 2011: Daniel Johnson and Hugh Anderson-Elliot
• Easter Term 2011: Daniel Johnson and John Burn-Murdoch
• Epiphany Term 2011: Jack Battersby and Rosie Boscawen
• Michaelmas Term 2010: Ally Bacon and Matthew Richardson
• Easter Term 2010: Vincent McAviney and Jodie Smith
• Epiphany Term 2010: Vincent McAviney and Liza Miller
• Michaelmas Term 2009: Daniel Bjelis
• Easter Term 2009: James Thompson
• Epiphany Term 2009: James Thompson
• Michaelmas Term 2008: Emily Purser and Maz Farookhi
• Epiphany Term 2008: Christopher Gribbin and Alice Himsworth
• Michaelmas Term 1987: Aisling Irwin
• Easter Term 1987: Cristina Nicolotti-Squire
• Epiphany Term 1987: Cristina Nicolotti-Squire
• Michaelmas 1986: Clare Lyons
• Easter 1986: Wendy Pilmer
• Epiphany Term 1986: Jeremy Vine
• Michaelmas Term 1985: Adrian Wells
• Easter Term 1985: Tim Burt
• Epiphany Term 1985: Tim Burt
• Michaelmas Term 1984 Joel Donovan
• Easter Term 1984 Alastair McCall
• Epiphany Term 1984: Alastair McCall