The College Tribune is a student newspaper which serves Ireland's largest third level institution, University College Dublin. It was established in 1989 with the assistance of journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne who was attending the university as an evening student at the time. Browne noted the campus' lack of a news outlet which was independent of both the university and University College Dublin Students' Union and alongside founding editor Eamon Dillon set up the Tribune to correct this. Initially, a close working relationship was maintained between the Tribune and the Sunday Tribune which was at the time edited by Browne. This relationship afforded the paper the use of professional production facilities in its fledgling years. Ultimately however, the student newspaper would long outlast its national weekly counterpart with the Sunday Tribune having ceased publication in 2011. The College Tribune is UCD's oldest surviving newspaper having been published continuously for over 30 years. The current editors of the 33rd volume of the paper are Stephan Kisbey-Green and Luke Murphy.
Print Edition
The print edition is circulated to over 50 locations at the university's Belfield and Blackrock campuses fortnightly during semesters one and two each year. Throughout its history, the College Tribune has been printed in tabloid format. Issues are typically 32 pages in length with the paper proper occupying 20 pages with news, features, science and technology, business, politics and innovation, Irish and sport. The remaining 12 pages are a pull-out arts and culture supplement The Trib which covers music, film, fashion, arts, satire and entertainment. The Trib, previously The Siren, was introduced during Volume 20 and was later renamed for the paper's nickname. The Tribune also includes a satire section named 'The Turbine' which was previously named the 'Angry Gerald'.
Online
Articles from the print edition and dedicated content are published on the paper's website, collegetribune.ie. The current standalone website was launched in 2011, having previously been hosted with assistance from the university's computer science society on UCD's own website. As is the overall trend in journalism, the paper's focus is moving towards pushing for more online content while maintaining a balance with traditional print. Content is also shared through social media sites including Facebook and Twitter.
Independence
The Tribune is the only student newspaper in Ireland which operates independently of the authorities of the university in which it is published. To achieve this, the paper is supported entirely through advertising revenue which is raised by the editors of the day. Editors and section editors are unpaid volunteers with an interest in journalism who are drawn from the university community. While the Tribune engages with university and students' union authorities in order to represent students interests, they have no control over the content of the paper. Of the other three campus media outlets two, Belfield FM and UCDTV are student societies while the University Observer is published by the students' union.
Notable alumni
Many journalists working both in Ireland and further afield can trace their roots back to the College Tribune. As UCD does not offer a dedicated journalism course at undergraduate or postgraduate level, many students cut their teeth by involving themselves in the campus' student newspapers. Previous editors who have gone on to make careers for themselves include Richard Oakley – editor of The Times Ireland, Conor Lally – crime correspondent for The Irish Times, Daniel McDonnell – soccer correspondent for the Irish Independent, Roddy O'Sullivan – deputy news editor of The Irish Times, Eamon Dillon – crime journalist with theSunday World, Jennifer Bray – political correspondent for the Irish Daily Mail, Sarah Binchy – radio producer at RTÉ Radio, Alan Caufield, editor of Metro, Colin Gleeson and Peter McGuire – freelance journalists, and brothers Gary and Fergus O'Shea, both now with The Sun. Other past contributors include Kate Hayes – TV producer for the BBC, Dave Kelly – chief sports analyst for the Irish Independent, Ruaidhri O'Connor – Rugby correspondent with the Irish Independent, Paul Lynch – author of Red Sky in Morning, Katherine Smyth – associate producer with BBC Current Affairs, Blathnaid Healy - formerly UK editor at Mashable and now , CNN Digital International, and .
Awards
The Tribune has been recognised on a number of occasions at the national student media awards, particularly in sports writing, of which the paper maintains a strong tradition. In addition to winning Student Newspaper of the Year at the 1996 USI & Irish Independent Media Awards, then editor Conor Lally was also awarded Student Journalist of the Year. 2003 saw Tribune stalwart Peter Lahiff win Diversity Writer of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards, to-date the only Irish based recipient of a Guardian award. In 2016/17 the paper won the Student Media ‘Newspaper of the Year’ award, after breaking several investigative stories in the Tribune and the national media, including a front page story in the Irish Times on the €3 million budget overrun of the Chinese Confucius Centre on campus. In 2019 the Turbine's then editor Shane Clune won the Student Media 'Colour Writer of the Year' award.
