An investigation (no, really) by The Lemon Press has found that acclaimed toilet paper substitute York Vision is in fact not the ‘UK’s most awarded student newspaper’. Despite having claimed as such since 2010, the truth is rather more complex.

Following a search through the archives of the NUS, the Guardian, the Daily Mirror, the Press Association, the Independent, the National Union of Journalists, the National Council for the Training of Journalists, and several student newspapers, a near-complete list of winners and runners-up going back as early as 1965 was compiled. Vision has not won the most awards (combining them all), either by count of winners or winners and runners-up. It did win the most awards for Best Newspaper/Publication from the Guardian Student Media Awards (1979–2015), with 6. But that’s the only count on which they won the most awards. If you include runners-up (as Vision do on their own list of the awards they have, as well as nominations and shortlists, which were not included) from that narrow Guardian prescription, Vision has 7, The Gryphon, formerly known as the Leeds Student has 8, and Forge Media, formerly the Forge Press, formerly the Steel Press, formerly Darts, from Sheffield, has 9.

So, what is the UK’s most awarded student newspaper, counting winners and runners-up in all the different award schemes and categories? The Gryphon has won 53 in total. Next up is Forge Media with 42. And behind Varsity from Cambridge and their 39 is Vision with 37, ‘The UK’s 4th Most Awarded Student Newspaper’. Furthermore, Vision did not win (excluding runners-up) the most Guardian awards in general, with Forge taking 18 to Vision’s 16.

Nor are Vision the ‘most award’, as The Lemon Press put it when describing them, in terms of wins when all national award schemes across all categories (the York University Media Awards were excluded) are considered, behind Forge Media’s 28 and The Gryphon’s 30. They’ve also not won the most best newspaper/publication awards across all the award schemes. The Gryphon leads with 16 when runners-up are considered, and still wins without them at 9, as opposed to Vision’s 6 (or 8 with runners-up). So, less ‘The UK’s Most Awarded Student Newspaper’, more ‘Winner of the Most Guardian Student Media Awards for Best Publication or Best Newspaper When You Don’t Count Runners-Up or If You Only Count The Years We Won or You Actively Exclude Other Quite Legitimate Award Schemes’. Not quite as snappy, but hey, that’s the price of the truth.

The Lemon Press contacted past and present Vision editors and writers asking for comment. Patrick Greenfield (1134 followers, not Twitter verified, though neither are we…), former Vision editor and current CNN and Guardian journalist, replied (our emphasis):

‘You can write what you want in The Lemon Press, but who can you point to in the history of your paper that is somebody? We have produced world class journalists who have uncovered wrongdoing at FIFA, held power to account around the world, risk their lives for truth and made the University of York a name in the media.’

The Lemon Press certainly can not only ‘write what we want’, but also print what we want and have read what we want (by the grace and good nature of our YUSU overlords, anyhow). This is on account of managing to publish on a regular basis, as opposed to other publications. We’re indebted to … who? Oh, Paddy Bluepasture of CBS and the Cornish Guardi — We’re indebted to, er, someone for pointing out that The Lemon Press stands up for media freedom, and saying:

‘The Lemon Press … risk their lives for truth and … the University of York’.

Helena Horton, former Vision editor and current Telegraph hack, replied:

‘The Guardian Student Media Awards are the industry leader for student media and the best publication prize is the most coveted award. We have won that more than any other student paper, which is why we call ourselves the most-awarded. Regardless of semantics, it is unarguable that Vision is highly regarded in the media, with journalists in newsrooms including The Telegraph, Guardian, CNN, Channel 4, BBC, BuzzFeed and The Mirror having started their careers at Vision. The University of York should be proud to have such a prestigious student newspaper on its campus, with a history of decades of holding the student union and the university to account.’

Vision’s current editor, Amelia Hubbard, under whose editorship the tagline has been removed from the printed edition as part of a wide-ranging desire to move on from the past, wrote that she did ‘not have the same affinity for the title as previous editorial teams’. But what appeared in her email signature at the end? ‘The UK’s Most Awarded Student Newspaper’.

The editor-in-chief of The Gryphon, Reece Parker, after being told the news and shown the proof, wrote:

‘I am very happy to learn that The Gryphon is the most decorated student paper in the UK. I feel this is a testament to our long standing dedication to high quality journalism.’

Bill Coles, former royal correspondent for The Sun, a judge for the Student Publication Association Awards (which are actually occurring), and the man behind the Bill Coles School of Charm (good eye contact, firm handshake, etc.) commented on Horton’s description of the Guardian awards as the ‘industry leader’ (such an ‘industry leader’ that they were canned in 2016 and haven’t run since — a sign of the times?):

‘The Guardian had the biggest student awards in town. But they’re history. A brief flourishing. The awards that matter are the ones that are current and ongoing. In the Roman empire, for instance, if you’d been immensely brave in battle you got to wear a laurel wreath in public — just as Julius Caesar used to do. But now… we couldn’t care less about laurel wreaths. And that will be the way of the Guardian [Student] Media Awards. Once they were a passport to the nationals — but within a couple more years, they will be an extinct irrelevance.’

Several members of The Lemon Press’s illustrious alumni group responded to Greenfield’s remark on the lack of ‘somebodies’ in our history. As an aside, we do have several alumni working at Fleet Street outlets, but we don’t go on and on about it.

Samuel Partridge, The Lemon Press’s first deputy editor:

‘Speaking as a former Executive Wrongdoer at FIFA, I curse the name of the University of York, whose academic bosom birthed that cursed, indefatigable journalist and chief architect of my imprisonment. When I am set free I shall raze the institution to the ground and salt the earth on which it stands on.’

Jake Roper, former editor:

‘I am a s̶o̶m̶e̶b̶o̶d̶y̶. I am a body.’

Nicholas Gouverneur:

‘[I am the] self-proclaimed French genius of the 21st century. Founded one of the major art movements in Paris, so underground it doesn’t have a name. Oh and Ex-Arts and Film editor of The Lemon Press. You can quote me on that.’

Rosa Boat:

‘Patrick Greenfield? Never heard of him.’

Lizzie Dearden, Home Affairs and Security Correspondent at The Independent (5785 followers, verified):

‘It’s reassuring to see Vision writers’ fact-checking is as stringent as ever.’

To be clear, we don’t blame Vision’s writers for going along with the accolades they were told they had, after all, why would they doubt it? We didn’t, even as we mocked them with different variations such as ‘most congratulate’. They are right to be proud of their history, but still, I find it hard to believe that no one else questioned this fact.

In order to help York Vision out, we are happy to announce The Lemon Press Arbitrary Awards in Memory of the Guardian Student Media Awards [Can’t we get a snappier title? — Eds.]. Submission dates will be announced later. Entries will be accepted from across the country. Categories include:

• Most Unusual Idea about Laying Up a Front Page
• Newspaper With The Most Variation in Typefaces on a Single Page
• Longest Consecutive Set of Issues Produced with A Glaring Typo on the Front Page
• Arbitrary Awards #1 through #20 for Services to Training Sub-Editors

Check out www.tiny.cc/mostaward for a near-complete list of student media awards, a partial breakdown by media outlet of total awards won, and a list of sources. Note that there are some pre-1979 gaps where I believe awards have occurred, but have been unable to find records, or do not have access to the archive material, as with the Daily Express, who I believe ran some awards during the 70s. A source who ran the NUS awards during that period notes ‘that there were always complaints that Leeds Student seemed always to be winning things’. But given Vision was founded in 1987, I am confident there are not enough missing awards from the late 80s onwards for them to make up the difference, at the very least as regards the big picture of total awards across all categories.

If you spot an error, factual or grammatical, please do get in touch. Our contact details are on the spreadsheet. We would be happy to make any corrections or clarifications.

— Henry Dyer

• This article was edited at 22.24 on 9th March to note Helena Horton is a current Telegraph hack.
• It was edited again at 01.48 on 10th March to remove the word ‘that’. Where from? You’ll have to find out yourself. Can’t make it too easy.