The Epinal

The Epinal

File:The Epinal Logo.jpg
Type	Online newspaper
Owner(s)	Tab Media Limited
Founded	2012
Website	www.theepinal.co.uk

The Epinal is Loughborough University's first independent student newspaper. It was founded in August 2012 and is run by and for students of the university.

Mission

The newspaper seeks to provide factually correct and informed news, in the public interest, for the students of Loughborough University, while also offering comprehensive sport coverage and intuitive comment on issues from campus and further afield. The National Student cited the publication's aim to also bring “effective and independent scrutiny of things that many would prefer not to be scrutinised or brought into the public domain.”

Awards

The Epinal was named UK Student Publication of the Month for November 2012 by Ones to Watch, a website set up by Daily Mail journalist Rosie Taylor to showcase the country's best student media. Commenting on The Epinal, Taylor wrote: "It has gone from nothing to being a major fixture of the UK’s student press in a few short months."

Ones to Watch has frequently cited some of The Epinal's best articles, while national magazine Athletics Weekly picked up on the news broken by The Epinal that students had started a petition opposing UK Athletics' withdrawal from the World University Games The publication broke the news in May 2013 that Loughborough University were planning to take action against the students responsible for the 'Rate Your Shag' Facebook page, receiving citations from national newspapers such as The Metro and the Daily Star.

In April 2013, Jago Pearson and Andrew Lawton received the Student Publication Association award for Outstanding Contribution to a UK Student Publication by the Editor of The National Student newspaper.

Founders

Jago Pearson

Jago Pearson was the founding Editor-in-Chief of The Epinal. He is the former Editor of Label Magazine, Loughborough Student Union's official magazine. When The Epinal was launched he told The National Student that "news and comment that shone a negative light on the Student Union was censored" and that The Epinal set about "to change the culture and play a positive role in what has been coined as the ‘Loughborough experience’ for years to come.”

During his tenure as Label Editor, Pearson was Specially Commended by the National Union of Students in their Student Journalist of the Year Awards. He also featured on BBC East Midlands Today after breaking the story that Loughborough University was withholding student feedback.

On November 21, 2012, Pearson was interviewed by BBC Radio Leicester about the NUS demonstration. He told the broadcaster that the demonstration against austerity was "out of touch" and that the national body was "failing to represent students".

Covering the 2013 NUS National Conference in Sheffield for The Epinal, Pearson was quoted by The Independent in his reporting of the cheers that rung out amongst sections of the conference floor upon the news of Baroness Thatcher's death.

Andrew Lawton

Andrew Lawton was the founding Editor of The Epinal. His regular editorials were noted by Ones to Watch as one reason for The Epinal's title as UK Student Publication of the Month for November 2012.

Previously, he was Online Editor for Label Magazine, Loughborough Student Union's official publication. During his tenure at Label, he along with Pearson developed the Label Online website substantially, more than doubling its monthly traffic in a ten-month period.

He has also had work published in The Guardian and on the Midlands Rugby League website.

The Tab takeover

Tab Media Limited took over ownership of The Epinal from Pearson and Lawton in Spring 2014. Tab Media Limited, which has its headquarters in London, already own newspapers at 39 universities, having launched their first publication in Cambridge back in 2009. Lawton is now embarking on a journalism career in London, while Pearson works as a political consultant in Westminster, also blogging for The Telegraph.