Student Direct

Student Direct is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Manchester, University of Salford and University of Bolton. The main part of the paper is produced by Manchester, though Salford and Bolton have a certain number of opt-out pages specifically relevant to their own students and students' unions; there are normally 12 such pages in Salford Student Direct and eight in Bolton Student Direct.

The paper is published every week during university term time, except during reading weeks. It is distributed around the campuses and various university sites on Mondays.

Staff

All students are encouraged to submit articles and other material for publication, and the paper publishes a wide range of one-off features as well as regular columns. The editorship is offered as a sabbatical position in each of the students' unions, with the local editors being officers of their students' unions for the duration of their time as editor.

Sections

News

The news section occupies the first six pages and includes national and international news. The front page and accompanying article is usually connected to university- or student-related news. There are also regular columnists on various topics.

Letters/Editorial

There is a Letters page which contains responses to articles in previous issues, as well as letters for the general student audience. The Letters page also carries the Editorial column; since October 2008, this column has also carried a disclaimer stating that editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the editorial team.

Comment

The Comment section contains opinion pieces written by four guest writers every week. Topics range from pressing global concerns (such as economy and environment) to university politics (student apathy and union decision-making) and lighter looks at student life.

INDirect

At the centre of Student Direct is the INDirect pullout. This is an arts and culture section of AbOUT 18 pages, including fashion, reviews, travel, gig reports and advice columns.

Union

One page in each issue is dedicated to students' union events and news.

Digital

This is a new section which launched in February 2009, it replaced the TV section which was becoming less popular with readers. The section covers games, tv and the internet.

Sport

The back cover carries university sports news, with national and international sports news on the preceding pages.