Pi Magazine
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| Type | Monthly newsmagazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Magazine |
| Owner(s) | Pi Media |
| Founder(s) | Richard Lubbock |
| Editor | Beatrix Willimont & Nancy Heath (2016/17) |
| Founded | September 1945 (as a newspaper) |
| Headquarters |
University College London Union Gordon Street, London |
| Website | pimediaonline |
Pi is the name of the official student publication of the University College London Union. It publishes a free monthly magazine during academic term time in addition to its website.
Pi was originally launched as a newspaper. In the aftermath of World War II, there was strong popular support amongst college and UCL Union officials for some sort of community project that would bind together the rapidly expanding campus. Pi was conceived as a fortnightly news-sheet, written and published internally by UCL students. It was first published in 1947.
The founding editor was Richard Lubbock, a first-year medic, who modelled the four-page broadsheet after the style of an American high school newspaper. The purpose was to provide news and entertainment for students, and journalistic experience for the editorial team.
The name, Pi, was chosen in honour of the Provost of the College at that time, Sir David Pye.
The paper was extremely popular, even charging a small fee for each issue. Though the initial focus was on student politics, as the paper recruited a more diverse base of writers and journalists, new areas began to receive attention - sports became a prominently featured section, as well as academic discourse and regular interviews with London celebrities. Pi drew favourable comparisons with other heavyweight student newspapers, such as the London School of Economics Beaver. British journalist and TV personality Jonathan Dimbleby was once the editor. Former contributors include TV psychiatrist Raj Persaud, Chief Executive of healthcare group Circle Ali Parsa, Chief Executive of Maitland PR, Neil Bennett and the Guardian's racing correspondent Greg Wood.
In May 2007 'Pi Magazine Society' was constitutionally renamed as 'Pi Media Society' to take into account Pi's expansion into other media formats; Pi Squared Newspaper (now simply Pi Newspaper) and a website. Since then, there has been careful emphasis by Pi Media to rebrand Pi Magazine as a journalistic outlet for student life and culture. Pi Newspaper has now taken the role of providing news on local and national student issues.
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