BULL (student magazine)
Front cover of Edition 1, 2014
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| Type | Student magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Magazine |
| Owner(s) | University of Sydney Union |
| Editor | Ada Lee, Shaza Barbar, Tom Joyner, Sam Langford, Bernadette Anvia, Mary Ward |
| Founded | 2006 (as a monthly publication) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | University of Sydney Camperdown, NSW |
| Circulation | 9000 |
| Website | bullmag.com.au |
BULL was the student magazine of the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, and was published by the University of Sydney Union. Established as The Bulletin, then The Bull, BULL was the union's only high-gloss magazine and was published monthly by an editorially independent student team.[1]
Written by students, for students, editorial leadership changed annually and as a result, editions changed tone and style over the years.[2][3] BULL had a strong focus on feature articles, culture and arts and involved fellow student reporters, contributors and photographers enriching the magazine.
In 2013 BULL was awarded at the ACUMA Awards for Excellence in Campus Service, receiving Best Publication.[4] In 2015, it was announced that BULL would be discontinued in 2016, and a new online platform, later titled Pulp, would take its place, with two new editors.
Contents
History
Originally published daily as The Bulletin, then The Bull, the Union Recorder was the main monthly student publication at the University of Sydney prior to BULL. However, due to rationalisation in the face of voluntary student unionism, it was announced that in 2006, BULL would be the primary repository of student content and feature student editors. As of 2014, BULL is the sole magazine of the University of Sydney Union.
Since 2006, BULL has been wholly staffed and operated by University of Sydney students, with eight editions published a year.
In March 2014, Honi Soit reported that a proposal was made to the University of Sydney Union student-appointed board of directors to take BULL exclusively online. While the decision was unanimous among the editors, the current Board, who have power over the Union's operations, struck down the proposal, leaving the publication in print. BULL faced a review as a result.[5]
In 2015, it was announced that BULL would be discontinued and replaced with a new online platform. In February, it was announced that this platform would be titled Pulp and would have two editors paying student contributors for their articles on the website. The new editors for Pulp in 2016 were announced as Aparna Balakumar and Whitney Duan.
Content
Content of BULL was all written by students of any degree and contributors were encouraged to write throughout the year. In 2014, BULL began a collective of reporters from applicants to be regular writers for the publication. The topics explored in BULL varied year to year in line with the priorities and beliefs of the editors. Each edition contained an editorial, feature articles, interviews, travel and cultural articles and reviews. Student photography and comics were often printed by the magazine, but did not appear in every issue. BULL had no political alignment and is distanced from the agenda of student representatives.
Features
As a cultural magazine, BULL had explored current and cutting edge topics over the years. Some feature articles concepts had included dying on social media, disabled sex, being gay in Canberra, the art of "picking up", slash fiction, eating competitions, Asian blepharoplasty, over-the-counter medicine addiction, the Pink Panthers, sex over 60, firestarters, Shakespeare and Company, cat obsessions, stuttering and the rise of King Hits in Australia.
The front cover of Issue 5 in 2013 was particularly controversial for depicting a cartoon penis dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan, for the accompanying article "Getting Racy", by Flora Grant and Lawrence Muskitta, on sexual racism.
Interviews
BULL had interviewed a number of notable Australian and international people. This has included Anna Funder, Jasper Knight and Andrew Hansen.
Past editors
- 2015: Bernadette Anvia, Ada Lee, Shaza Barbar, Tom Joyner, Mary Ward, Sam Langford
- 2014: Eden Caceda, Katie Davern, Sean O'Grady, Sophie Gallagher, Melanie Kembrey, Rob North, Erin Rooney
- 2013: Felix Donovan, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Diana Pham, John Rowley, Lane Sainty, Kate Wilcox
- 2012: Bronte Lambourne, Lawrence Muskitta, Misa Han, Pierce Hartigan, Xiaoran Shi
- 2011: Paul Karp, Alex McKinnon, Kira Spucys-Tahar, Anne Widjaja
- 2010: Richard Warwick
- 2009: Bridie Connellan, Sara Haghdoosti
- 2007: Lucy Boyle, Kate Leaver, Nancy Lee, Anya Poukchanski, Ruchir Punjabi, Rebecca Santos
