History

The precursor of The Tart was a Bristol University newspaper edited by Tobes Kelly in the first six months of 2007. The Tart was set up as a response to a perceived lack of variety in the student newspaper market, and Kelly's desire to revive student satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 through enabling and encouraging students to collaborate regardless of university campus borders. The Tart's tone was satirical, and has been described as "tolerant, witty and parodying the folly of those in the public eye". The newspaper was part of the TartMedia Group, which is owned by Kelly.

A website was established in August 2007, and The Tart was distributed across ten university campuses during termtime in late 2007, including Oxford University, Cambridge University, Bristol University, Warwick University and London School of Economics

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...

.

After receiving a positive response from trial distributions to London commuters, the decision was taken to move out of the student market. After securing significant funding, The Tart launched for London commuters in January 2008, and enjoyed a brief run in the capital, at a time when other now-defunct London freesheets such as London Lite

London Lite

London Lite was the trading name of a British free daily newspaper, published by Associated Newspapers , and now defunct. It was available Monday to Friday afternoons and evenings from street distributors in Central London only...

 and thelondonpaper

Thelondonpaper

The London Paper was a free daily newspaper, published by NI Free Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International...

were also distributed as part of a brief "old-fashioned newspaper war".

The paper's income was affected by the economic downturn, and midway through 2008, The Tart decided to focus on an online webzine. In summer 2008, it relaunched with a new website and editorial team.

The website closed in June 2009.