The Guardian is planning to launch a weekly tabloid newspaper aimed at Britain’s students.
A six-week pilot of The Guardian Student starts this week with a print run of 10,000, going out free to five university campuses. If successful, the paper will then be distributed across the country.
It has not yet been decided whether the newspaper will be free or paid-for in the long term.
The 32-page full-colour tabloid will consist of content taken from the main paper. It will include a summary of the week’s news, a selection of columnists, a weekly interview and a comprehensive sports section.
There will also be TV listings, music, clubbing and film reviews taken from The Guide and Friday Review.
The Guardian Student is edited by Toby Manhire and overseen by Friday Review editor Merope Mills.
She said: “We just want to get The Guardian into more young people’s hands – people who wouldn’t normally be getting it.
“We showed a dummy version to a lot of students and they said there were things they didn’t realise were in The Guardian. They previously thought it was a bit worthy.
“A lot of the content will come from G2, Friday Review and Weekend – but it’s also a showcase for our best writing and news from the previous week.”
The trial will run at King’s College London, the University of East London, Birmingham University, Wolverhampton University and the University of Sussex.
The paper will be made available in student union areas and advertised with posters on campus.
By Dominic Ponsford
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