Check out the archive here: https://courierarchive.ncl.ac.uk/archive
The 1940s was a decade chock full of historic events, perhaps none more influential than the establishment of The King’s Courier. Founded by Alan Marsh and Stuart Shaw, who had led a staff secession away from Durham University's competing publication Palatinate, The King's Courier was designed to cater solely to the interests of Newcastle students and it quickly grew into one of England's leading student publications.
Its first issue, published on November 18, 1948, comprised of just four photo-less pages, costing its readers 2p.
In many ways, The Courier of the 1940s was quite similar to that which we know today, featuring news on the front page and sports on the back page, with opinion, arts, and culture in between, including a “letters to the editor” section and recurring columns from international students editorializing their experiences in the UK.
Outside of that, the King’s Courier focused on student gossip, where to find cheap food, and adverts for Brown Ale, so has much really changed?
The King’s Courier went from strength to strength in the ‘50s, its first full decade of existence, continuing to offer coverage of on-campus news alongside a scintillating crop of editorial columns, becoming the most widely read student newspaper in England with a reported average circulation of 2,500.
The Courier's rivalry with Durham's Palatinate continued to simmer throughout the 1950's, coming to a head as The Courier's "Special Durham Issue," which asked "What's wrong with Durham?", led to a fistfight between the papers' editors.
Two notable editors took the helm in the 1950s - ITV reporter Brian Shallcross and philosophy lecturer turned playwright Stanley Eveling.
New additions to The Courier’s content rotation included student-made cartoons, adverts for beer and cigarettes, and the now-beloved puzzles section, emerging in the form of a humble crossword. Sport coverage was temporarily bumped from its traditional slot on the back page, though it did begin to report on the University’s varsity rally driving team, a stark ommission from today's BUCS rotation.
To cap off a decade of continued development and evolution, the fledgling King’s Courier rebranded, simply becoming The Courier, the name that has stuck for over 60 years.
Arthur Ferridge, Head of Sport
The 1960s - a period of revolution, progress, conflict, the Beatles and, of course, the era in which The Courier entered its adolescence - what a time.
For The Courier, the 60s, much like for the rest of the country, was a period of significant change. The dawn of the new decade brought with it King’s College’s independence from Durham to become Newcastle University, the beginning of the paper’s weekly publication schedule and, perhaps most significantly to some readers, the seminal departure from King’s Courier to the short, simple, non-controversial Courier.
The paper itself began to focus much more on aesthetics, with new branding and an increase in photography, whilst its content shifted to focus primarily on news, eventually expanding the paper’s journalistic scope to cover both the university and the city of Newcastle. This decade was a particularly successful one for The Courier, the ever-improving quality of journalism helping to establish the paper as truly representative of the student voice, receiving praise at national student media awards and successfully covering major events such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s visit to campus in 1967.
In the spirit of the era, the paper also got involved in its fair share of student activism, holding the University, Union and SRC to account over various issues including accommodation and rent – apparently, times change, landlords don’t. It was this type of important and impactful content that contributed to some of the most successful years of The Courier, seeing record sales and further solidifying the paper's now prestigious reputation (if we do say so ourselves).
Rachael McCreanor, Deputy Editor
The 70s were a decade of disco, porn, and political upheaval and there was no better place for that to be seen than The Courier. Taking a look back at this special decade sees some trouble rife in our beloved students newspaper.
With a somewhat misogynistic pornography page full of nude images of ladies, it’s odd for contemporary Students to look back and see a nude woman who is likely older than their parents. It is disconcerting for us in the modern courier office to look back at some of the sleezier moments in The Courier's history. But it is important for us to remember even the more inappropriate parts of our paper’s history.
In this decade we had such esteemed contributors like Dianne Nelmes – the ‘queen’ of daytime tv – and Newcastle University’s own David Baines. With a complex and eventful decades, it’s certain these students had a lot to write about.
There was even a Courier coup when the Socialist Society used a student council meeting to take control of The Courier, turning it into an ‘editorial collective’ full of political diatribes. Funnily enough, their tenure was the one which brought back the crossword. I wonder what the crossover between leftwing politics and puzzles looks like.
I’m sure there are people who have fond memories of this time of The Courier, and perhaps some with not so fond memories. It is likely unwise to judge, after all, hindsight is 2023.
Ross Bennett, Deputy Editor
Onto the 80’s - and forget all the iconic film, music and celebrity culture. The most iconic thing to come out of this decade was the continuation of everyone’s favourite student newspaper, The Courier!
In 1980, Iain McBride took over as editor, making big changes to the tone of the paper overall. He promised to bring more fun to The Courier, making it less political by removing editorials. A few years on, the paper provided explanatory features when the Union-SRC merger was finally completed in 1983!
Avoiding as much controversy as possible (eek!), the letters page continuously provided criticism of other editorial decisions, keeping the paper current and relevant.
As we delve deeper into the 80’s, The Courier progressed more into the paper that we know and love today. Tony Hay’s success as editor resulted in the first major redesign in six years. It was now a paper comprising 12 pages (only 20 more to go!), at 10p a copy.
This extra room allowed more creativity to flow through production, with a Women’s page added thanks to Newcastle being one of the first unions in the country to introduce a Women’s Officer.
Arguably the greatest tale from the 80’s came in 1988, when editor Steve Silk brought puzzles, investigative journalism, and a strong sense of irony to our beloved paper. In a funny way, he was also a gateway for the introduction of a Sabbatical Editor after being sacked when the Union realised he was not actually a student. In fact, Silk had ignored registration for his third year so that he could dedicate himself to being editor of the paper.
Whilst he was inevitably sacked, there was a great response from students that drove calls to introduce a Sabbatical Editor as a full-time, paid position - something that our recent editors are grateful for I’m sure.
Imogen Smillie and Lucy Bower, Heads of Culture
The first half of the 90s: 1990-1995
Moving into the 1990s, the Courier was opened up to new possibilities with the gift of the internet! The editorial team started using Apple Mac desktops, with new software helping to transition the paper into a new era. Taking advantage of this, the early 90s saw the paper report on a variety of topics, from pay rises for Sabbatical Officers, to former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron’s presidency to carbon monoxide poisonings.
With the scope becoming ever broader, it became clear that the paper needed a full-time editor despite deputies being introduced in 1990. So, in 1992, John Aglionby was elected as the Sabbatical Editor for the first time in 15 years as the ‘Communications Officer’. It's fair to say the position got off to a shaky start, with Aglionby’s tenure seeing accusations of right-wing bias and a decline in standards. However, this brought about the revamp of the paper by editor Simon Bird in 1993. Now 16-pages, The Courier was rebranded in a tabloid style and the Preview culture pull-out was created. In an attempt to shock, the paper contained sensationalist reporting, “Courier quickies” (funny quotes and anecdotes), and a sarcastic agony aunt feature. Like the 1990s itself, the Courier was going through a lot of transitions and the beginning of the decade showed them in a bold and often shocking manner.
Jess Bradbury, Head of Social Media
Things can only get better? 1995-2000
The Courier was in its full lager-fueled 90s tabloid swagger by the mid-90s. Pints were cheap (£1.50 Guinness in the Union!), the music was good, and the popular Tyne Out section featured gig reviews of legendary bands from the Britpop era, heralding the end of American-import Grunge. Oasis released Definitely Maybe in '94, swiftly followed by a chart battle with Blur manufactured by the press as "The Battle of Britpop." It was evident from the numerous appearances of Damon Albarn’s face in the paper which side the oh-so-middle-class Courier contributors were on!
With the adoption of the internet, The Courier dipped its toes into websites from 1995, with various Communications Officers (Sabs) promising a Courier site but not really delivering anything close to the site we have today. By 2000, the dotcom bubble had burst, and The Courier didn’t get a proper website until 2009.
In '97, we entered the New Labour era. The influence of Labour’s social reforms on child poverty, low pay and gay rights may have brought a sense of optimism to the paper. Sabbatical editors (introduced in 1992), improved relations between The Courier and the Union, and by the 2000s, the paper was generally much less scathing of the Union and the university. Lisa Nandy (now the Right Honourable) contributed to The Courier during this time.
Throughout the 90s, the articles were filled with accounts of freshers' drunken antics, including broken ankles (Tuxedo Princess-related), legs (pub golf-related), and tragic deaths caused by ‘pranks,’ initiations, and meningitis. There were also numerous archaic references to ‘sloanes’ (rahs), ‘moshers’ (goths/emos), and a refreshing lack of reference to the pejorative ‘Chav.’
You’ll meet them in the 2000s.
Anthony Welsh, Head of Online
The 2000s saw The Courier take a firmer step in becoming a tabloid. At the NUS Student Media Awards, the paper took home “Best Campaigning Publication” back to back in ‘99 and ‘00.
2002 saw the addition of a Horoscopes page, as The Courier grew to 20 pages. As well as the additional travel and fashion pages, in 2003 “the Thong,” a two page satirical pull out, launched. The year of ‘03 saw the Vice-Chancellor of the time, Christopher Edwards, writing the odd article… mainly to defend University actions the paper was criticising!
2004 marked a milestone as colour was introduced to all parts of the paper, not just the back and front as in the year before. In 2005 ‘Pulp’ - that had been functioning as a fortnightly culture pullout - expanded and became twelve page pull out.
As Sam Parker was elected Editor in 2008, The Courier began to take more of its broadsheet form. New masthead and colour schemes helped this, with the accompanying Pulp also toned down, Parker eventually integrated the pull-out into the culture section that lives in The Courier today.
Sam Norman, Head of Current Affairs
2010s
The courier reached new heights in the 2010’s, an era where history was made when the first blind date took place, the first media awards were held, and The Courier office temporarily relocated. This decade truly reflected how fast the times changed, with earlier features including ‘Courier Dine With Me’, rundowns of soap opera previews –and we can’t ignore a 2012 piece on British slang interpreted by Paris Hilton. From The X factor to X-rated discussions this era had it all.
In 2011, fashion found itself becoming a separate section, with both the culture and current affairs section growing, featuring editorial and opinion pieces. Simon Murphy was champion in the 2011 elections, however, the successful candidate proved to be too successful. Four days in the prestige role was all Murphy could add to the history, as he won numerous media awards which resulted in him securing a bursary to study a journalism Master’s. Kat Bannon took the baton and brought new levels of creativity to the paper. She introduced a colour for each culture section and the new edition – the science section.
As a former sports editor, it was clear which section her heart belong to as she increased the page amount for the section to 10 – with a special edition featuring 22 sport pages.
After Bannon’s emotional departure, Ben Travis took the reins and launched the beauty section, which brought us classic skinted/minted beauty recommendations, whilst reducing the sport section. The Courier was going in one direction and went on to win Best Publication at the Guardian Student Media Awards for the first time since 1994, and had two consecutive wins in 2012 and 2013. An era in which NUTV was formally known at TCTV – The Courier Television.
The gaming section was introduced in 2014, with travel making a comeback in 2017.
In 2017, James Sproston took control and alongside Mark Sleightholm, they went on to bring a new fresh design to the paper including a splash of pink on the front cover. Another change made by Sproston was the improvement in connection with the other branches of student media and a relaunch of the website.
Nearing the end of this decade, The Courier went out in style for the 70th anniversary of the paper, along with 20 years of NSR and 10 years of television.
Paige Rutter, Head of Social Media
Welcome to the 2020s! Compared to the absolute chaos of the previous decades, you may assume that the 20s have been uneventful for The Courier. This couldn’t be further from the truth – while there’s only 3 years’ worth of papers to cover in the 20s, there’s a lot to get through…
2020
2020 started with Ella Williams as Editor-in-Chief. As I’m sure everyone can remember, 2020 was hell (to put it lightly). With multiple lockdowns and millions of deaths, The Courier was forced to shut its office doors and mainly work online/over Zoom. During 2020, only 6 print issues were sent out (in comparison to 17 issues in 2019 and 15 issues in 2021).
On the positive side, the team had time to completely revamp the website and send out a newsletter via email; our lovely Relationships and Campus Comment sections were created; and an Agony Aunt column was introduced.
2021
Onwards to 2021, George Boatfield became the Editor-in-Chief. Just before the Winter Break, a motion was passed in Student Council to rename the ‘Editor-in-Chief’ sabbatical role to ‘Student Media Officer’, allowing the Saab to give NUTV and NSR more attention, alongside The Courier (yay!).
2021 saw the Student Media office being kitted out with new PCs. This got the creative juices flowing for the Editorial Team, as each section got a bigger colour palette to work with each week. We also see the Beauty section being renamed to Fashion and Beauty.
I’d also like to give the 2021 Editorial Team a special mention. Before writing this, I had the pleasure of looking through every issue of The Courier, between 2020 - 2023. The editing in the first few 2021 issues was some of my favourite!
2022
Hopping onto 2022, we saw Meg Howe as Student Media Officer. We didn’t do things by halves, with a huge 75th Anniversary Ball in March (to fit in with the 25th anniversary of NSR and 15th anniversary of NUTV) and a whole sex-themed issue – yep, every single article somehow related to sex!
However, that isn’t to say 2022 was smooth sailing. A particular moment of uproar was caused when a motion was put through Student Council, aiming to change The Courier’s name to The King’s Courier. Luckily, the Editorial Team banded together to fight this motion off (not that it took much effort…) and we can now laugh about it.
2023
Here we are at present day – 2023. Our current Student Media Officer is Gabbi De Boer. We’ve only printed 3 issues so far this semester, due to the new fortnightly print schedule. But look out for a new paper coming out on Monday (20th November).
2023 has already seen the return of the Gaming section and Agony Aunt column, with lots more exciting things to come. We are settling back into our editing routine and have been thrilled to welcome lots of new writers this year.
I’m confident that Courier World Domination will take place within the next 75 years – Happy Anniversary!
Daisy Harrison, Head of Life and Style
