Eyes front! See the shortlist for the 2022 magazine cover prize showdown for Journalism students at De Montfort University

June 22, 2022 by 2 Comments
The front-runners in the DMU Journalism magazine cover prize 2022

It’s the clash of the covers, the grapple of the glossies, the melee of the mags – and now the shortlist has been revealed for the annual magazine prize contested by Journalism students at De Montfort University in Leicester.

Students on both the single- and joint-honours Journalism programmes at DMU create magazines and websites in a final-year project which tests the writing and design skills they have gained during their studies. Each year, the best covers go head to head for a cash prize.

And these are the front runners in the 2022 competition, which is being judged by Joe Brewin, the deputy editor of FourFourTwo, the world’s biggest football magazine.

The five glossies in this year’s clash of the covers are:

Adore, a monthly women’s lifestyle magazine with “stories from underrepresented and misrepresented groups”, created and written by Beth Bailey, Abbie Beresford, Fiora Flinton, Kira Gibson and Shantelle Gondo.

GenFem, a women’s lifestyle magazine aimed at an audience of 18-25-year-olds, created and written by Maryam Goncalves, Morgana Ribeiro and Maykel Valladares.

Ocio, a sports magazine that takes readers away from the mainstream, created and written by Thomas Carter, Rashaad Mangera, Joshua Solomon, Holly Taylor and Luke Williamson.

Taboob, a convention-busting lifestyle, health, fashion and entertainment magazine aimed mainly at women, created and written by Jaz Cartwright, Yannick Doualehi, Victoria Gavin, Megan McCluskey, Kiran Munder, Deborah Paul-Enahoro and Hannah Smith.

Twenty One, a Gen-Z style, culture and entertainment magazine, created and written by Arabelle Akinfe, Samantha Johnston, Seema Mian and Lauren Sadler.

Journalism programme leader, Brian Dodds, said: “Once again, I’m struck by the high standard of the magazines produced by our talented Journalism students at DMU. I’m looking forward to seeing who wins – but well done to them all.”

The winners will be announced next month and the members of the successful group will share a £200 prize. You can see the winner of last year’s prize here.

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Australian folk duo Charm of Finches announce first UK tour to include Leicester

April 5, 2022 by Leave a Comment

By Courtney Stevens

On tour: Mabel and Ivy Windred-Wornes (Pic credit: Laura May Grogan)

Australian sister folk duo, Charm of Finches, have announced their first ever UK tour for Spring 2022.

The tour is to promote their third album Wonderful Oblivion which is available in the UK from May 6 via Anti- Fragile Music.

The tour kicks off in Oxford on Saturday, April 23, stops at The Musician in Leicester on Tuesday, May 3, and travels around the UK before finishing in Whitstable on Sunday, May 8.

Mabel and Ivy Windred-Wornes, grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and started busking and singing at festivals from a young age.

They made their first EP in 2014 at ages 11 and 14, later releasing their debut album, Staring at the starry ceiling in 2016.

They have described their music as being about ‘love, grief and whispering trees, with tight sister harmonies, and many stringed instruments.’

Mabel and Ivy said: “This album covers a lot of different themes and is about looking into the future.

“Our last album was about grief and processing the death of one of our close friends, whereas this album is about coming out of that and is more hopeful.

“This album explores the innocence of childhood, dreams and new beginnings.”

The duo are already well known in their home country, having won the 2021 Music Victoria’s Best Folk Act and Youth Artist of the Year 2021 at the Australian Folk Music Awards.

They were also nominated for the 2021 Australian Music Prize.

The pair are looking forward to their first UK tour and to performing to live audiences again after the coronavirus lockdowns.

They said: “We’ve never been to the UK before, so it will be a wild adventure, we don’t know what to expect.

“We’re very excited.

“We wrote and recorded these songs within the space of six months during lockdown, so it’s great to be able to finally play these songs to an audience.”

The sisters knew from a young age that they wanted to do music and work together and have spoken about the inspiration behind their sound.

They said: “Music has always been a part of our lives and we have been singing folk songs together from about age six.

“We both picked up string instruments at age nine and started writing our own songs, and it kind of all snowballed from there.

“One of our early inspirations was First Aid Kit, they started out young and we thought well if they could do it, so can we.

“We also love Sufjan Stevens – who is probably our biggest musical hero.”

You can listen to their music here: Charm of Finches – YouTube

Tickets are available now from:  https://charmoffinchesband.com/shows

Dates of Charm of Finches UK tour
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Leicester’s Newarke Point construction disrupts traffic at De Montfort University

April 5, 2022 by Leave a Comment

By Thomas Dye

Construction on Newarke Points A and B Blocks
A and B blocks of Newarke Point with scaffold erected

Newarke Point student accommodation is undergoing serious disruptive building works that will restrict traffic and student parking until the end of summer. 

Letting agent Unite Students’ Newarke Point building, on the De Montfort University Campus, is undergoing a complete cladding overhaul following annual safety checks.

The construction works have included the raising of multiple scaffold towers after the safety check stated that whilst the results were good, there was a recommendation “To change the exterior façade to improve beyond what is required.”

A statement from Unite Students said that student and staff parking have both been removed to allow construction traffic.

Students are being advised to park further away from the entrance to prevent damage by moving plant equipment. 

Specific rooms are also having windows removed to be replaced, with residents being offered both temporary and permanent places in alternative accommodation and are being asked to “remove all belongings from around the window area.” 

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Demon Media celebrates International Women’s Day by holding special movie quiz

March 15, 2022 by Leave a Comment

By Zoe Graham

Having Fun: (L to R) Lou Hunt, Zoe Graham, Maddie Forster, Abi Willock and Ria Chauhan

Students at De Montfort University celebrated International Women’s Day by taking part in an all-women’s inspired movie quiz on Demon FM.

Featuring host Maddie Forster and co-host Abi Willock, the show on Tuesday last week (MARCH8) was a series of different rounds, with questions relating to all things female – and the winning contestant gets to feature on next week’s quiz show against fellow winners.

Demon Media Society member Abi described the experience as “I thought it was a lot of fun for the contestants and hosts alike.

“The thing I love about Demon is that there’s no pressure to be perfect, as long as everyone’s having fun and we work together to put on a great show to our audiences, and I laughed too, until it hurt.”

Listener and DMU student, Emily Hyde, said: “It was a really entertaining show and very empowering to listen to as a woman.

“They played different quizzes and games based strongly on females in the industry. I would love to listen to the show again.”

The Demon Movie Championship (DMC) happens every Tuesday from 7 to 9pm so tune in to see who next week’s winner is on https://www.demonfm.co.uk/

Filed Under: Latest, Demon Media, DMU News, First Year Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Star striker outraged at new drinking ban rule for DMU Women’s football team in Leicester

March 15, 2022 by Leave a Comment

By Liv Messum

Alicia King on holiday in Spain, doing her favourite thing.

A drinking ban has been put in place for the DMU women’s football team for the next two weeks but star striker Alicia King isn’t happy about it. 

Alicia, 19, said: “I think it’s a good idea if it was more serious but being uni students and having social commitments, it’s hard to not drink around already drunk people.” 

Alicia has been playing for the team for two years and this is the first time a drinking ban has been put in place due to the upcoming Varsity matches against University of Leicester. 

She said: “I understand we need to condition our bodies for Varsity, but I personally don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference in the team’s performance. 

“It’s really only going to affect the day after.” 

Usually, team social events involve drinking games to help everyone loosen up and make friends with their teammates in a more relaxed environment. 

Alicia, who recently returned from playing for the British Virgin Islands women’s international team in World Cup qualifiers in Honduras, said: “Drinking socials are more of a night out and they are fun, but I think there should be more non-drinking ones at other points for those who don’t drink – but on other days. 

“But if this is what we have to do to win, then I’m excited to play the match and train well.”

For more information on the women’s team and fixtures, please visit: www.dmu.ac.uk/current-students/sport/sports-clubs/football.aspx

Filed Under: Second Year, Football, Latest, Sports, Today's Top Story Tagged With: , , ,
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