Back when the University first began, an inspired and creative team of students started the oldest society at the University of York. Our rivals, Nouse. They’ve been making quality papers (though of course, not as good as ours!), since 1964.
Shortly after, a few students split up from that and started up the most awarded student media outlet in the country, York Vision. We compete against each other to create quality print publications and beautiful websites.
The Tab is a national student media outlet, run by graduates who profit off your free work. They’re a faceless corporation with no real team spirit– their Editor-On-Chief won’t even be on or know anything about York Campus. We care about your growth as writers, as that is the reason we exist!
Vision and Nouse are run by students, for students. Everything, right down to our websites and adverts, is designed by us. We sit together in stuffy, tiny offices in Grimston House together to create a beautiful paper written, designed and curated by a team of dedicated friends. We’re a family- just today I was exchanging emails from someone who edited Vision in the 1980s, and once you’ve been involved in Vision or Nouse, you are involved for life in this beautiful, tight-knit community. We’ve all made our best friends here.
Quite aside from that, York has the best student media in the country and is widely touted as the ‘Fleet Street of Student Media’. We have a massive and diverse amount of student publications, all of which are award-winning and beautiful. Universities which don’t have this perhaps need The Tab, but it would be a shame if instead of joining the age-old legacy of quality media, freshers decided to join up with this faceless corporation instead of getting truly involved with the students and news on our campus.
The Tab also simply is not as high quality an outlet as Vision or Nouse. They may have more consistent branding and more sensationalism than even Vision but you will never have anything physical to show for working for them. Our graduates work at Sky, ITV, BBC, the Guardian, the Mirror, The Daily Star, The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Press Association, News Associates, The Times, The Financial Times, Hello Magazine and The Telegraph to name but a few, and they are all still in contact with us. We have so many contacts in the media. That’s what comes of being part of the York Media family! The Tab doesn’t have a physical paper, we do, so you get to learn how to design print and also how to advertise. You get to hold your work in your hand—though our websites are important, too, and are designed by Computer Science students at the University itself.
Finally, The Tab aren’t exactly respected across the media world. Whereas Vision has won the most Guardian Student Media Awards out of any publication ever, The Tab has been criticized for bad journalism by the Independent and The Guardian . Also, anyone who is anti sexual harassment should think twice before joining the outlet which published this: An open letter to the ladies on exeters campus.
Vision and Nouse have national respect, The Tab is nationally derided. They aren’t on our campus yet, let’s keep The Tab where they belong, in obscurity. And it’s not every day that a Visionary would sing the praises of Nouse, our rival paper—but they are our rivals because they are good enough quality to compete with. The Tab are not. Join one of us this Fresher’s week, it’ll be the best decision you made in your entire University career- it certainly was for me!
Whilst I find it hard to disagree with the general notion that joining either Nouse or Vision (or URY or YSTV), depending on personal preference, etc. etc., is the best option for students at the university who are interested in journalism, it’s difficult not to read this comment piece as an act of desperation disproportional to the (perceived) threat that The Tab poses.
I know this because I have written for Vision quite extensively and am also very familiar with the work Nouse do. But how would someone who is new to York view this piece? It oozes of desperation, pleading for attention, which would imply that the papers’ content quality does not speak for itself and, worse, it needs articles like this to keep up with The Tab (which, as anyone who’s followed The Tab’s attempts at establishing itself in York in the past knows, is laughable). Why would someone choose to get involved in a society that has to “implore” you to not join someone else? Is Vision really that scared?
“They aren’t on our campus yet, let’s keep The Tab where they belong, in obscurity.” I wasn’t aware that The Tab was anything but obscure and non-threatening before reading this, but now you have one more person who’s more aware of them than they were before. Thanks?
This is embarrassing.
I disagree, I’m part of a society and The Tab emailed us asking us to get all of our members to join. They are starting at York for the first time this year, and yes this article may ‘raise awareness’ of The Tab but it only sheds negative light on them, instead shedding positive light on the other media socs.
I don’t think that the article comes across as desperate, it comes across as proud.
Mentally disturbed.
“They are starting in York for the first time this year.”
Just like they tried to last year. And the year before that.
Need I go on?
What a silly and quite frankly derogative article. I’m all for societies putting forward their qualities, especially with a new intake of freshers soon to arrive. However the way it is done here is quite simply distasteful. You don’t have to talk insultingly of another society in quite simply, defamatory means. Lazy and quite pathetic journalism, starting to become a reoccurring theme with vision in the two years I’ve been at York.
The Tab can fuck off.
I agree with @JaneAusten. Vision and Nouse are right to be proud of their achievements and values, and to start a discussion about what home-grown York media can offer to new students that external profit-making websites simply can’t.
Personally I feel that those students who involve themselves in campus media take it far too seriously. Often it’s all they ever talk about and they then act like they’re better than others because they can write some pointless articles. I find it annoying and would recommend not joining any of these societies.
Don’t quiet get what the problem is… I’m hoping to join vision when I get to York but surely the competition is a good thing. If Vision shows itself to be better than the tab locally then that benchmark can be used for assesment by the external media awards
Vision, I want you to know that I loathe you. I loathe your articles, your editors, your policies, everything about you is just, just awful. But for once I’m with you on this, fuck the Tab.
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I find it quite funny that Vision is trying to pretend it’s nearly as old as Nouse for this article. There’s a 23 year gap between them at a university that just turned 50 – no vaguely sensible person would say Vision was founded “shortly after” Nouse! Be proud of your origins, don’t try and dress them up to make yourself sound more respectable.