| The Orbital | |
|---|---|
| Media Type: | Multimedia Publication: Newspaper, Magazine, Website |
| Launched: | 1986 |
| Formerly Called: | The Egham Sun |
| Website: | http://www.theorbital.co.uk/ |
| University: | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Availability | |
The Orbital is the official student publication of SURHUL. It contains a range of subjects covering student life, culture, entertainment and current affairs. It attempts to strike a balance between serious topics and light-hearted features.
Published by the Students' Union, the publication is produced entirely by students with any student being able to contribute. Like media counterpart Insanity Radio, The Orbital is constitutionally supervised by the Students' Union, through the Sabbatical Officer for Communications & Campaigns.
Contents |
The Orbital board is led by an Editor and a Deputy Editor. These positions are elected annually via a campus-wide election in which all 8000+ students are allowed to vote. A Sabbatical Officer of the Students' Union, the Vice President (Communications & Campaigns), is ultimately responsible for the strategic direction and financial regularity of the publication, as well as checking the publication for libel.
The editorial board comprises of four section Editors (News, Comment, Reviews, Lifestyle and Sports & Societies), the Art Director and the Online Editor, as well as sub-boards for each editorial and administrative section.
Originally launched as a newspaper called The Egham Sun in 1986 Royal Holloway’s official Students’ Union publication was converted into a magazine format in the early 1990s and renamed The Orbital after the nickname of the nearby M25 motorway.
Published as an A4 glossy magazine in the late 1990s, it transformed into a smaller glossy monthly publication in 2005 with a new format and style launched under the present-day pixel-dot 'O' identity by then Art Directors Peter Main & John Bevan. During the 2006 National Student Journalism Awards, judges from the media industry praised the new format, describing it as “gritty, witty, relevant and coherent, packaged with good design and strong front covers.”
In the same awards, The Orbital enjoyed nominations for Best Student Critic (Laura Beattie) and Best Student Photographer (Patrick Camara Ropeta) and went on to win Best Magazine.
Editor Patrick Camara Ropeta was thrilled by the success: “The Orbital came out of nowhere to win the top prize for student magazines. We are relatively small and unknown compared to most nominees, and larger universities often dominate the awards circuit. It’s such an honour to be chosen over such magazines; it’s a testament to the level of quality that The Orbital can achieve against all the odds.”
The format was kept in the following year by the editor Anita Engebretsen due to successes. This same year saw the rise of an independently funded Newspaper 'The Founder', The Orbital's main competitor since it was originally launched in 1986. The first Orbital charter was created this year co-authored by John Bevan, describing the function and role of the magazine, staff, the relationship with the students' union as well as carrying out board structures in the following year.
In 2007, the magazine evolved into a 40 page full colour quarterfold magazine under the new Editor, Mario Creatura. He also co-founded OrbitalLive! an event established to offer students the opportunity to walk in off of the street to contribute to their student publication.
The premise behind the event was for the OrbitalLive! team to create an entire issue of the publication using only contributions made in the first two days of Freshers’ Week. Mario Creatura described the ‘ethos of [the event as] helping to encourage journalistic talent and involvement in such an amazing institution.”
In 2008, Editor Jack Ratcliffe added glossy covers to focus on the publication’s main themes of lifestyle and culture. Emphasising the importance of proper production, Jack redesigned submission templates to modernise the submissions process, facilitating an easier workflow for copy and layout.
In early 2009 a new SU Publication Constitution and board structure were ratified, having been rewritten from scratch by recently elected Editor Nick Stylianou, in order to allow for a streamlined operation in years to come. In April 2009, Nick began work on a brand-new website to herald “a new era of multimedia journalism”, to inform the students of Royal Holloway, both online and in print. Nick Stylianou has included more interviews with College members of staff, who continue to support the publication. The Orbital has broken a number of high-profile stories, including RHUL's ill-fated Project IDEA initiative in 2009 and the appointment of a new principal in 2010 alongside the biggest print format change in its 25-year history by publishing a fortnightly newspaper and a monthly magazine supplement.
Moving towards a multi-media focus, The Orbital live-blogs important campus events, such as General Meetings of the Students' Union and panelled discussions with College on topics like climate change and library opening hours. With a monthly podcast, video headlines and a dynamic website relaunched at the beginning of 2010, The Orbital's Nick Stylianou said he was 'looking to push the boundary of student media' and 'refused to define a publication to print only'. SURHUL's Vice President (Student Activities) said Nick "transformed what was a rather tired magazine into an exciting print that students couldn't wait to pick up and read. Not only did the new paper have style and class it was also full to the brim of masterfully crafted articles...always frequent and up to date."
The re-launch of the website, with a bespoke minimalist design, not only aimed to set The Orbital apart from other student publications but also coincided with the yearly Sabbatical Elections on campus. The incumbent President stated that The Orbital's extensive coverage directly influenced the student involvement in the elections, in which voting was up 18%. The Orbital's of the SURHUL 2010 Sabbatical Officer elections: exit polls, live-blogging and a live video broadcast from both Candidates' Question Time and the results night showed exclusive interviews and guaranteed over 1,000 hits per day. Nick commented 'every student at Royal Holloway should be able to get involved in elections, whether they're on campus or not'. Never before done at RHUL, The Orbital's exit polls resulted in an almost 100% correct prediction on Results Night.
In 2011, the publication was redesigned in its entirety under the guidance of Beth Bridewell and Ben Barfitt, who acted as a consulant havign been heavily involved with the London Student Newspaper. Over the summer, Jack Smale and Julian Farmer rebuilt the website to give it a news-based focus.
Orbital Live! is an annual landmark student-led event where students can walk in off of the street to contribute to their student publication. The premise behind the event is to see if the Orbital Live! team can create the issue of the publication from live contributions over only two days. Traditionally the first two days of Freshers Week. The first event was successfully held from 24–25 September 2007.
Simultaneously, live student radio from Insanity Radio is broadcast from inside the Windsor Building; which included music and interviews with Sabbatical Officers, College staff and many first-year students.
Explaining the idea behind the first Orbital Live! its co-creator, Mario Creatura, said “I wanted first year students to know that anyone can participate in any way - including creating an event like this by working closely with the College. It started out as a dream to get people involved and it just goes to show that no idea is too silly if it helps people to feel a part of Royal Holloway.”
Mario also commented, “Long may Orbital Live! continue to grace the halls of the Windsor Building with the ethos of helping to encourage journalistic talent and involvement in such an amazing institution.”
2009-2010: NUJ Regional Press Awards
2005-2006: National Press Association/National Union of Students (United Kingdom) National Student Journalism Awards
Judges from the media industry commented described the 2006 magazine as "gritty, witty, relevant and coherent, packaged with good design and strong front covers."