''The Spark'' is the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

of the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

in the United Kingdom ''The Spark'' is produced monthly during term time (previously fortnightly) and is available as a paper edition distributed across University halls of residence, academic, and administrative buildings. The paper follows a traditional newspaper layout: the front portion of the newspaper is devoted to news issues, particularly those concerning students at the university.

History

''The Spark'' was established in 1934 as ''The Shell''. In 1984, the newspaper changed format to a more

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

-style publication, rebranding itself as the short-lived ''Splat,'' before changing again to ''Spark*'' in 1988. ''Spark*'' reverted to a newspaper format in 1990, under the title ''Spark''. At this point the newspaper was published weekly. In 2006, the then Reading University Students' Union ( RUSU) President Dave Lewis decided to have ''Spark*'' published fortnightly, to reduce costs and to give the volunteer staff more time between issues whilst completing their degrees. This move coincided with a move to printing in full colour and the rebranding as ''Spark*''. In a 2005

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

article, a former Varsity editor described ''The Spark'' as 'about as visually appealing as a punch in the retina'. Since then, the newspaper has had a major redesign by University Typography and Graphic Communication students, and has upgraded its design software to Adobe InDesign CS3 .

Awards

''The Spark has been'' nominated by its editorial team for the ''Guardian'' Student Media Awards in a number of categories. In 2010, two writers, Georgina Mills and Marcus Greenslade, won first and second prizes respectively in Up to Speed's student journalism competition. In November 2010, ''The Spark''s (then known as 'Spark*') music editor Kate Allen received the gong for best student writer at the Record of the Day Awards 2010, which recognise contributions to music journalism.

References

External links

''The Spark'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark Student newspapers published in the United Kingdom University of Reading Newspapers established in 1934 1934 establishments in the United Kingdom