The Gaudie is a student newspaper at the University of Aberdeen covering campus and local news. It is the oldest independent student newspaper in Scotland according to The Guardian, being in circulation since 1934. It is available free of charge across the Old Aberdeen and Foresterhill campuses. It aims to print unbiased, student-focused articles.
The Gaudie is partially funded by Aberdeen University Students' Association, and partially by its own advertising revenue. It currently consists of 24 pages split into News, Features, Science and Environment, Opine, International, Puzzles, Satire, Life and Style, Arts, and Sports.
As the transition from print to digital media has increased in recent years, The Gaudie has invested significant development in its online presence, with nearly 24,000 visitors from over 70 countries in the last year.
The Gaudie continues to release fortnightly print editions, which consist of 400 papers distributed across campus.
All UoA students are invited to submit articles for the various sections.
History
The Gaudie was first released in 1934 as a weekly student paper. It is recognised as one of the oldest student newspapers in Scotland and the United Kingdom, and in 2003 was stated as the oldest by TheGuardian. It has been produced by Aberdeen students since its inception in 1934. It appeared in the press in 2003 when the then editorial team resigned in protest over attempts by Aberdeen University Students' Association to enforce content and restrict the budget and print run.
Since 2009, the paper has successfully re-established itself around the King's College Campus, and Foresterhill. The paper has a number of notable past writers and editors including Alistair Darling and David Torrance.
2003: Resignation controversy
In 2003, there was outrage over attempts by the Aberdeen University Students' Association to enforce content on the editorial team. AUSA believed that as the Students' Association paid for the paper, they were entitled to advertise the Association and its endeavours. Led by Mark Lindley-Highfield, the entire editorial team of the paper resigned. The issue was taken to Parliament by the MP for Shetland and Orkney, criticizing the Students' Association's "ill-advised move".
2009-present: Redesign and Investigative Reporting
Between 2009 and 2012, The Gaudie was completely redesigned under the tenure of Editors Joe Blyth, Anne-Claire Deseilligny, and James Valentine to have a more consistent look throughout the whole paper. Once more, inspiration was taken from major British newspapers, not in the least from The Guardian.
The paper was redesigned to have similar looking mastheads for all sections, except for the Arts and Culture magazine IV, which is part of The Gaudie as a whole. Section colours, which had been previously used for all sections, were gotten rid of. The newly designed mastheads were made to mirror the window pattern of the Sir Duncan Rice Library, an important landmark of Old Aberdeen.
Recent years have featured a range of investigative reporting, including an investigation (subsequently published in The Times and The Press and Journal) which uncovered the university's collection of stolen indigenous human remains.[1]
Other reporting has focused on the university's increased recruitment of international students, the university's response to COVID-19, and coverage of candidate misconduct in the Aberdeen University Student's Association sabbatical officer elections.[2]
