Showcase: The Howl

The brains behind the Magazine

City University of London is one of the UK’s top journalism schools, yet, until Howl, it didn’t have a student magazine. Because of student commitments and its staff graduating, the previous media outlets had all been shut down. The university needed an independent student media to cater to the needs of the student body,

In 2016, the Student Union put Sofia and a few other students at the helm of the student media hub.

That was when The Howl was born, its name coming from our school’s sports mascot The Wolf. The Howl functioned as a Student Union media outlet for just over a year but, the relationship between the group and the union became tumultuous. The Howl was forced to separate from the Student Union, becoming independent in the second semester of 2018.

The Howl made this decision because of discrepancies in ideology and strategy of the two partners. (If you want our view, the Student Union wanted to censor us, was poorly transparent in strategy, denied us promised funding and so on…)

Going independent was also necessary in the process of galvanizing, motivating and incentivizing our student writers, giving us the green light for a braver editorial strategy.

Why is The Howl different?

The Howl is crucial for the university community – it is the only independent student-led print media outlet at City and it is necessary for fostering school spirit. It is a place where students can discuss ideas and express themselves, as well as holding student bodies to account. In 2018 The Howl conducted some groundbreaking research on President’s expenses, the UOL strikes, the Prevent strategy at our university, freedom of speech on campus or lack thereof, and the BDS motions passed at school government meetings.

Best achievement to date

Our best achievement was going to print in December 2017 with little to no funds secured.

Our other proudest moments were going independent; changing our editorial strategy to a much more newsworthy one, finally holding a lot of university bodies to account.

What would you do with the opportunity to play with £1000?

So far, The Howl has solely relied on precarious funding coming from university departments or student union funds, but most of the money and effort always ends up coming from the students first. £1,000 would help The Howl massively. It would secure us more print editions and allow us to host events across campus, helping us spread our message and enlarge our marketing campaign, so to really grow within the student community.

Sum up your society/club in 3 words.

Self-starting – inquisitive – honest.