After spending an exciting weekend in Norwich at the Student Publication Association’s National Conference (SPANC), we are proud to announce that our Editor-in-Chief, Isabel Cattermole, received two awards, winning Best Comment Piece and being highly commended for her outstanding commitment to the role. Her winning piece, Jess’ Rule and The Cost of Reassurance, is available to read here.
Another member of our senior committee, Abbie Brown, was elected to the 2026/2027 SPA executive committee as Training & Opportunities officer.
The conference itself was incredibly valuable, giving us the opportunity to partake in specialist masterclasses, network with student journalists and industry professionals, and listen to interesting keynote speakers such as Maryam Moshiri (Chief News Presenter at the BBC). We were especially excited to see Sussex Alumni and former Badger Editor-in-Chief, Aubrey Allegretti, who is now Chief Political Correspondent at The Times.
The whole Badger team got completely stuck in, taking part in newspaper swaps, one-to-one workshops and even some late-night karaoke. It was so special to celebrate all the hard work and dedication we’ve seen from our team this year, and watching Isabel accept her awards was the cherry on the cake.
So, what’s next for The Badger? As everyone gears up for their final essays and exams, The Badger team is working hard to find their next senior committee, with our potential fearless leaders being interviewed this month. Alongside senior editors, we will need to rebuild our incredible team of section editors and staff writers for next year. Could this be you?