Desert ultramarathons and lunchtime etiquette: 6 newspapers we loved in September

Welcome to our September roundup! This month we've got newspapers about running in the desert, eating sandwiches in Glasgow and surviving the first year of middle school (written by the students who just lived through it!) – plus more  below.

Jaywick Youth Visual Storytelling Programme

Format: Tabloid (traditionally-printed) / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

For the past 15 years, Jaywick, a coastal village in Essex, has repeatedly been named the most deprived place in England. The Jaywick Youth Visual Storytelling Programme set out to challenge that narrative, showing “a more personal and kinder view” of the area through the eyes of its young people.

Photographer David Shaw and Shannon Ghannam of the Peter Marlow Foundation brought the programme together, giving local residents the chance to tell their stories with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, using equipment provided by Fujifilm. The project culminated in a tabloid newspaper designed by Thomas Hornby.

When they unboxed the newspaper at the Never Say Die pub for the launch party, “we were thrilled!” says Shannon. “We received such positive feedback from the local community and people were proud of what we all achieved.”

"We are super proud of what we made and this newspaper-style book shows it all off." –David Shaw

Possessed by Satisfy Running

Format: Broadsheet (digitally-printed) / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

We’ve printed seven issues of Possessed for running brand Satisfy, and this one heads into the desert. The editor’s letter sets the tone, instructing readers to crank up the thermostat and, if there’s a pet store nearby, “pick up a couple of rattlesnakes” before settling in.

It’s like a zine at broadsheet scale, and an extension of Satisfy’s rebellious, counter-culture take on running – there’s not a training plan in sight. Instead, this issue gets into the pleasures and pains of running in the desert, from Pierre David’s photo essay on the 250-mile Cocodona ultramarathon (the winner, Rachel Entrekin, slept 19 minutes over 2 days) to a running playlist from Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme. 

There are also some fantastically goofy horoscopes (“Start sagging your running shorts,” Sagittariuses!), a crossword and contributions from runners including Molly Seidel and Jamil Coury

The Spread from Sandweegies

Format: Tabloid (digitally-printed) / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

Sandweegies is a twice-yearly print magazine exploring the food scene in our home city of Glasgow, Scotland, one sandwich at a time. Founded by Nancy Heley, it’s supplemented by The Weekly Serve, a Substack newsletter featuring stories and recommendations from around the city.

“The response to the newsletter has been incredible, but I always felt the pieces deserved a bigger spotlight than a screen could offer,” says Nancy. So this month, the newsletter got a paper makeover in the form of The Spread, a tabloid newspaper full of interviews with the people behind Glasgow faves like Kitty’s Donuts, La Gelatessa and Celentano’s.

“One thing I especially love about a newspaper is that, unlike a magazine, the papers aren’t stapled,” says Nancy. “It means you have a lot more creative freedom to play around with the layout.” Watch Nancy walk through the design process on Instagram – and pick up a free copy at the cafes and restaurants featured in the newspaper.

Anything but Portraits

Format: Tabloid (digitally-printed)  / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

What’s a portrait without a face? That was the starting point for Anything But Portraits, a collaborative publication and exhibition organised by photographers Billy Allen and Lilah Culliford.

The open call brought together work from 20 photographers around the world. Each image was printed as a pull-out poster, but folded into the newspaper, it shared a spread with another photographer’s work, creating unexpected pairings throughout the publication.

The posters were exhibited for a one-day show at the Photobook Cafe in London on 19 August, where visitors could also flip through the newspaper and take home a poster in exchange for a donation to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

The Pulse

Format: Midi (digitally-printed) / Paper: 55gsm improved newsprint

When sixth graders in Karma Richards’s class arrived for their first day of middle school last month, they found a “survival guide” newspaper waiting on their desks – written by the students who’d been in their shoes the year before.

At the end of the last school year, Karma’s two English classes wrote about everything they wished they’d known, from lunchtime etiquette to staying organised between classes. Karma then used our free Canva templates to turn their tips into a midi newspaper, designed to give the incoming class “a feeling of belonging and reassurance.”

“My students were absolutely FLOORED to see their names in print,” says Karma. “I’m so excited to make this an annual tradition for my classroom.” Karma shared a step-by-step guide to the project for fellow teachers on Instagram.

still boys

Format: Tabloid (traditionally-printed)  / Paper: 52gsm recycled newsprint

still boys – intentionally styled in lowercase – is a community photography project by visual artist Edward Brilliant, documenting the lives of British schoolboys. It looks at the sports they play, how they spend their free time and the fresh piercings they might be hiding from their parents.

Printing it as a tabloid newspaper meant Edward could give the students and school staff free copies to keep as a record of the year. He says one of the pleasures of making it was deciding which photographs belonged together and playing with different sizes to see how the images could speak to one another.

The spreads can also be pulled apart, allowing the boys featured to curate the work themselves and pin the photographs up on their walls. Copies are available to purchase directly from Edward – get in touch with him on Instagram if you’d like one.

Print your own newspaper, starting from just one copy!

GET FREE SAMPLES