Forge Media is the student-run organization at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

which has overseen Forge Radio, Forge TV and Forge Press since 2008. On 4 July 2012, Forge Media was named Best Student Media at the NUS Awards. The award recognised the many hours of hard work put in by the members of the ''Forge Press'', Forge Radio and Forge TV teams, as individual teams and as one fully converged media package, displaying a wide range of multimedia skills and including hundreds of members of the student body, and reaching large audiences.

Forge Radio

Forge Radio (formerly named Sure Radio) is the student radio station of the

. It broadcasts during term time on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

and throughout the

Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

, catering for a varied taste in music. Weekday daytime is playlisted; evenings and weekends are open to specialist shows, which provide an upfront variety of music. Forge Radio was founded (under the name of Sure Radio) in 1995 as a student society at Sheffield Union by Helen Grimes, with Jenny Thornton as Head of Music. The station followed in the footsteps of

Forge FM Forge FM was a youth-led community radio station and educational charity in Sheffield in the 1990s. Run by volunteers, the station brought together a wide range of specialist music shows and speech-based programming with the aim of involving al ...

; a station jointly run by students and the local community broadcasting from University House, which moved out of the students' union to become an independent organisation in 1994. The original aim of Sure Radio was to broadcast 4-week FM " RSL" broadcasts twice a year, and to become a self-sufficient organisation. It broadcast to the city of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, and to travellers driving along a small stretch of the M1. In 2000, Sure FM was awarded Student Radio Station of the Year by College Music Update, with Dan Morfitt also being nominated as Best Head of Music. Later that year, Dan also received a nomination at the

Student Radio Awards The Student Radio Association (SRA) is a representative body which supports and acts on behalf of the UK student radio community, comprising radio stations that are associated with or linked to a place of education. It is a not-for-profit organi ...

. Sure then made the national news in February 2001, including ITN's News at Ten and

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically you ...

, for being banned from playing any music by

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

by the University of Sheffield Union of Students. Although not broadcasting at the time of the controversy, Sure took the unilateral step of breaking the ban during its next broadcast on FM, for which it was duly fined by the Union. In association with the

, Sure moved into a new media hub built for the three divisions of media: Sure Radio,

The Steel Press Forge Media is the student-run organization at the University of Sheffield which has overseen Forge Radio, Forge TV and Forge Press since 2008. On 4 July 2012, Forge Media was named Best Student Media at the NUS Awards. The award recognised the ...

and Sheffield Base in 2008. In June 2009, Forge Radio as a part of Forge Media were the runners up in the category of Student Media of the Year at the

NUS NUS or Nus may refer to: * National University of Singapore * Nus, a town in the Aosta Valley of Italy * Neglected and Underutilized Species, or Neglected and Underutilized Crops * National Union of Students (Australia) * National Union of Students ...

Awards 2009. In October 2009, Jen Carr (Head of Music 2008/09, Station Manager 2009/10) was nominated for Best Female Presenter at the

, in the process gaining the station's first nomination at the awards since Oli Q back in 2005. A year later, the station received two nominations with Dale Wetter gaining a nomination for Best Male Presenter and Sam Moir for Best Specialist Music Programming. The success of this year was recognised on several occasions; the station was awarded 'Best Working Committee' by the Students' Union, as well as receiving a nomination in the category of Best Student Radio Chart Show at the Student Radio Awards. Furthermore, Forge Media as a whole won the award for Best Student Media at the 2012 National Union of Students Awards.

Forge Press

''Forge Press'' is the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...

. Published monthly during term-time by a team of up to 100 student volunteers, the paper has a circulation of 2,500 and is distributed free across campus and the surrounding student area to a projected readership of 15,000–20,000. Since 2003 the University of Sheffield Union of Students has employed a non-student in a support role which holds no editorial power and is designed to aid the day-to-day running of the organisation. In 2006 this role was expanded, retitled to 'Media Development Officer', to support all student media and any student or society who wants to use the Media Hub facilities. The

has a history of student journalism that predates its inception as a university when it received its charter in 1905. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a new newspaper was set up at the university called ''Darts'', The name stemmed from a sister arts publication, ''Arrows'', which had been around since the 1930s, with the new venture seen as a smaller entity than its sibling – a dart being a sort of miniature arrow. (The paper was ultimately to outlive its brethren, which closed in the late 1980s.) In the 1997/98 academic year a new editorial team took charge of Darts and decided to change the name. In the present day, Darts is the name of the part of the Comment section which provides a satirical and comical take on recent news stories and events. On 28 November 1997 the newly rebranded ''Steel Press'' was unveiled. In style the paper was not particularly different from what had come before, yet over the following nine years underwent many changes. Ranging in appearance from something not dissimilar to the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' to its eventual appearance as the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'' of student publications, the Sheffield ''Steel Press'' as it was known (''Sheffield Steel'' as it appeared on the cover) continued to provide a proving ground for young journalists hoping for a career in the media or simply looking for an interesting diversion during their time at the

. In 2008, Sheffield ''Steel Press'' merged with

Sure Radio Forge Media is the student-run organization at the University of Sheffield which has overseen Forge Radio, Forge TV and Forge Press since 2008. On 4 July 2012, Forge Media was named Best Student Media at the NUS Awards. The award recognised the ...

and the website to make a fully converged student media called Forge Media. This consists of the newspaper ''Forge Press'', Forge Radio and ForgeToday.com, as well as the more recent Forge TV. In 2022, Forge Press was shortlisted for Best Publication at the 2022 Student Publication Association National Conference, which they hosted along with the Student Publication Association. The eventual winner of the award was the University of Manchester’s, The Mancunion.

References

External links

Forge Radio websiteForge Media website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forge Media University of Sheffield Student newspapers published in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1950 1950 establishments in England Newspapers published in Yorkshire Biweekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom Free newspapers Clubs and societies of the University of Sheffield Mass media in Sheffield Radio stations established in 1995 Student radio in the United Kingdom