History
2009–2012
''The Tab'' was launched in 2009 by Cambridge students Jack Rivlin, George Marangos-Gilks and Taymoor Atighetchi. The website was marketed as "Cambridge University's Online Tabloid" promising to "provide fast news and entertainment direct to your rooms".About Us2012–2015
In Autumn 2012, ''The Tab'' expanded to twelve other British universities. Backed by external investment, Rivlin and Marangos-Gilks aim to build a mass circulation online paper for students across the country. The news site has held journalism training events in association with ''The Daily Telegraph.''2015–present
''The Tab'' opened its first American bureau in Brooklyn in July 2015. ''The Tab''''Babe''
''Babe'', also known as ''Babe.net'', was a spinoff aimed at young women. It was established in May 2016 by then Tab editor Roisin Lanigan and focuses on what ''Slate (magazine), Slate'' contributor Ruth Graham called "vulgar tomfoolery" – provocative, light stories unlikely to appeal to older women. In January 2018, a woman using the pseudonym 'Grace' wrote an article on ''Babe'' accusing comedian Aziz Ansari of sexual misconduct. The article was met with a polarized and mixed response among commentators and the public with disagreement as to whether the incident described in the ''Babe'' article constitutes sexual misconduct, and to whether the accuser's narrative trivialized or damaged the Me Too movement. The journalist who edited the story at Babe.net, Katie Way, was criticized by HLN (TV network), HLN anchor Ashleigh Banfield. Banfield had previously criticized Ansari's anonymous accuser, drawing Way's ire in an email response which she read part of on-air, characterizing it as hypocritical. The email included Way claiming "Ashleigh [was] someone who I am certain nobody under the age of 45 has ever heard of" and describing her as a "burgundy-lipstick, bad-highlights, second-wave-feminist has-been." Responding to criticism of the site's choice to publish the account, ''Tab'' editor-in-chief Joshi Herrmann said it was "patently ridiculous" to ignore stories solely because they did not involve illegal behavior. It was reported in early 2019 that ''Babe'' CEO Jack Rivlin was looking to sell the site. ''Babe'' closed in February 2019.Scoops
Notable scoops for ''The Tab'' include Family of Barack Obama, Malia Obama's decision to go to Harvard University, and the publication of the memes that got 12 incoming freshmen kicked out of Harvard. In December 2012, the Bristol title revealed a ban on female speakers at the university's Christian Union. Starting in September 2013, ''The Tab'' pioneered a campaign that got student unions across the UK to ban Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, after Edinburgh University Students' Association boycotted it. Later in the year, the site published an exclusive story after DJ Tim Westwood was caught unleashing a torrent of sexist jibes at Leicester's Student Union. In February 2016 ''The Tab''s Reading, Berkshire, Reading edition interviewed Amber-May Ellis, a student at the University of Reading and a reality TV star, who got a tattoo of homeless Ian Beale on her thigh. In under 24 hours the story had gone viral, it was picked up by all of the U.K's tabloid newspapers and by ITV's ''This Morning''. A week in 2014 ''The Tab'' dubbed "The week ''The Tab'' dominated Fleet Street". In February 2017, ''The Tab Cambridge'' reported a story about a student member of the Cambridge University Conservative Association burning a £20 note in front of a homeless person. The story was covered by ''The Guardian'', and ''The Daily Telegraph.''False scoops and April Fools' Day hoaxes
In April 2010, an April Fools' Day story alleging that Cambridge had stripped Nick Griffin of his degree was picked up by ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. On April Fools' Day 2014 a Cambridge story alleged that Prince William had received a third class honours, third class degree.Controversies
In October 2016, a group of University of Nottingham students dressed as a rollercoaster were reported by ''The Tab'' to be impersonating The Smiler rollercoaster crash of June 2015. This article was picked up by the national press including the BBC, ITV and ''Metro''. ''The Tab'' reporter, Joseph Archer, admitted to the ''Daily Mail'' that he had 'not spoken to the group to ask what their costume was about' as the bar they were in was 'very busy', a statement that the group of students said was wrong. ''The Tab'' later issued an apology for their story and admitted that they had 'messed up'. Student writers, including local student editors, are unpaid which has led to heavy criticism from other journalists as well as accusations ''The Tab'' is exploiting its writers. When ''The Tab's'' women's Vertical market, vertical ''babe'' was first launched in May 2016 the majority of its writers were unpaid work experience students taking part in ''The Tab's'' summer 2016 Fellowship Scheme. In 2017 babe recruited more unpaid contributors in both the US and UK, as part of their 'Summer Correspondents' program. Applicants were told that despite being unpaid they would receive many benefits, including: "Getting your stories read by thousands of readers across the world". ''babe'' established a small team of staff writers and editors at its Brooklyn office before ending in 2019.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tab Publications established in 2009 Publications associated with the University of Cambridge Student newspapers published in the United Kingdom European news websites Youth in the United Kingdom