Photo by Craig Dingwall

This post was updated at 4:10pm on October 23rd with a Facebook statement from The University Paper.

A free, home-delivered newspaper offering student journalists an opportunity to reach a wider audience has drawn a negative reaction from some residents in Jesmond who have questioned the suitability of its content.

On October 16th the second issue of The University Paper was delivered to households across Jesmond. The paper is part of a national project, mixing local and national stories in various editions across 16 cities this year, first published in Newcastle on September 22nd.

Each edition is tailored to its home city, but the paper’s content has left many residents unhappy, particularly those with young children.

The tabloid’s front page splash carried the headline ‘Sex, Trebles and a Whole Load of Carnage’ while a second article on the same page was titled: ‘5 Rapes Shock Students’. Some residents who picked up the paper from their doormats have called the content and presentation irresponsible and raised their concerns on social media:

Kate Emmett, a Jesmond resident and owner of Cake Poppins, said that there is “no mention of the huge international student population we have in Newcastle. This paper paints them as a bunch of drunken, sex-crazed idiots… if I were a student I’d be mortified.”

Newcastle University student Saffron Kershaw-Mee, social media officer at the Feminist Society, told JesmondLocal she views the paper as “very much a disappointment… this newspaper and the casual talk of defecating outside of clubs and having threesomes is just slightly childish.” Kershaw-Mee’s says she believes The University Paper doesn’t give a “full, fair and accurate representation of student life at all”, and described how another student told her they viewed it as the glorification of the sexualised ‘freshers’ life.

JesmondLocal contacted Henrietta Painter, editor of the Newcastle edition of The University Paper, to ask about the paper’s editorial policy, content and delivery method, but did not receive a reply.

The University Paper is published by Simian Publishing, a company which earlier this year took ownership of lad mag ‘Loaded’, and told the London Evening Standard at the time that it would become “far more discerning and sophisticated from now on.” It was founded by Chris Moss, a Nottingham Trent University graduate. Rich Clayton, creative director at Simian Publishing, has previously said that The University Paper aims to present “a true, accountable voice for Britain’s vibrant student community”.

UPDATE: The University Paper released a statement on its Newcastle edition Facebook page:

Have you received The University Paper? Do you agree with Saffron Kershaw-Mee and Kate Emmett? Let us know in the comments below