A decade with Omnibus
This month marks the tenth anniversary of the first issue of Omnibus. We are celebrating the occasion by giving the newspaper a new look. Here's a quick recap of Omnibus' first decade.
The first issue of Omnibus hit news-stands around Aarhus University in April 2013. The first issue did more than just present the newspaper to the public, it also included an interview with AU’s then new Rector Brian Bech Nielsen, who has now held the position for as long as the AU newspaper has been called Omnibus.
The debut issue also explained the name and objective of the paper:
“The name means “for all”, and that’s the objective of the newspaper: Omnibus aims to be an identity-forging, unifying and debate-generating medium for all employees and students at AU.”
Not the first AU newspaper
Omnibus is not the first AU newspaper. There have been several university newspapers at Aarhus University prior to Omnibus. The first was called information & debat and was published from 1973 to 2004. The newspaper was relaunched in 2004 under the name CAMPUS and was in publication until 2009. From 2010 to 2012 the newspaper was called UNIvers.
First Independent newspaper at AU
What makes Omnibus different from the other newspapers is that it’s the first editorially independent newspaper at AU, with an editorial committee responsible for safeguarding editorial freedom. The committee is also responsible for ensuring that the newspaper complies with its mandate to be an identity-forging, unifying and debate-generating medium.
18 printed issues
Omnibus was initially available both in print and online. A total of 18 issues were printed before the senior management team in 2016 decided the newspaper was to be completely digital. The last printed issue was published in April 2016. It included the news that in 2019 AU would take over the premises of the former Aarhus Municipality Hospital and transform it into a new campus - the area that we now know as the University City.
All Omnibus articles from 2013 and onwards can be found in the newspaper archive
Online
Since then, Omnibus has been a digital newspaper and it regularly publishes articles, interviews and feature stories.
The most recent significant milestone was last year when the senior management team decided Omnibus could send newsletters to all the university's students and employees twice a month.
New layout
In other words, much has happened and much has been written since the first edition hit news-stands. However, our layout hasn’t changed much over the past 10 years. That's why we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of Omnibus by giving the newspaper a makeover and a new logo. A redesign of the front-page layout will follow later.
The new design was developed with respect for the original design and for the newspaper tradition. The black dot will remain but in a simpler form that allows the articles and photos to take font stage.
Black on white with room for nuance and shading.
A wish-list
So what could a decade-old newspaper possibly wish for on its anniversary?
Even more debate in the form of op eds and letters to the editor, and more columns written by employees and students would be great. And, not least, lots of tips and ideas from our readers on what we should look at more closely in our articles.
In other words, we would like our readers to make use of us. Because, above all, we want to be relevant.
Translated by GlobalDenmark