About Us

The Students’ Herald:

The Students’ Herald is an independent magazine run by a left-wing student organization: The Progressive Students Collective. It offers news, analysis, and perspectives on progressive student politics, education, and culture. The magazine borrows its name from the original Students Herald of the 1950s as the organ of the Democratic Students Federation led by Dr. M. Sarwar. The name has been used with permission from the original editor S.M. Naseem.

Progressive Students’ Collective:

Progressive Student Collective is a left-wing political organization run by students. It aims to educate and organize students around critical issues facing our society. Throughout modern history, students have played a central role in raising critical questions, as well as lending support to struggles of the poor and the marginalized in society. From the Civil Rights Movement to anti-war protests, from the national liberation struggles to demands for gender equality, students have been at the forefront of every major effort at transforming society. In Pakistan, students were the vanguards in campaigns for social justice, civil liberties and national sovereignty, giving many heroic sacrifices in the midst of these struggles. We aim to continue this legacy.


TEAM STRUCTURE

Executive Team:-

  • Editor-in-chief:

Bio: Nadia

Responsibilities: The chief editor oversees the whole content and makes sure the flow of the magazine is seamless. As a top editor, this person is responsible for making all the final decisions and would be assisted by the assistant editor, creative director and the board advisers.

  • Assistant editor:

Bio: 

Responsibilities:The managing/assistant editor works directly under the editor in chief and is in charge of enforcing deadlines, following the editorial calendar, editing the final copy and making sure daily tasks are being accomplished by each person.

  • Cultural Desk Incharge:

Bio: 

Responsibilities: TSH Cultural Desk Incharge oversees the literary section of the publication. They are responsible for leading their team to manage the activities of their department, guiding aspiring writers and finalizing the copy for publication.

  • Creative Director:

Bio: Eqbal

Responsibilities: The creative director is in charge of the visual aspect of the magazine and leads the graphic designs team. Their  main tasks concern creating cover concepts, managing illustrations, icons and feature images for articles and reports.

  • Social Media Incharge:

Bio: Husna Rashid

Responsibilities: The Social media incharge for TSH is expected to lead an efficient campaign for the magazine across various social media outlets and post daily snippets from the feed. If need be, they may manage and lead a team.

  • Sub-editors (English/Urdu):

Bio: Aneeqa Sikander (English) – Tehzeeb Mehdi (Urdu)

Responsibilities: Sub-editors are responsible for editing the first copy of the incoming write-up for their respective language. The second and final draft will be run through the assistant editor and the EIC.

  • Live Sessions Incharge: 

Bio: Ajeet Parsad

Responsibilities: The person in-charge of live sessions will be expected to go live from the facebook page of the publication once or twice a month, moderating a panel of students and activists, to discuss issues of relevance to academia and student politics.

Staff Reporters: The Students Herald team has four staff reporters, two each for Urdu and English.

Urdu: Umair Ali 

English: Aneeqa Sikandar 

Board Advisers: Owing to their invaluable experience in student politics and journalism, board advisers would be consulted at every step although their suggestions wouldn’t be binding.

  • Ali Raza
  • Amjad Mehdi

Editorial Policy:

“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”  George Orwell

The Students Herald editorial board, as well as the central cabinet of Progressive Students Collective, defines and updates the policy of the publication. The magazine is a publication of Progressive Students Collective, and would strictly comply with the organizational lines. Our mission is to be the voice of students and offer news, analysis, and perspectives on progressive student politics, education, and culture. The Students’ Herald is part of our effort to build a collective platform for students of all backgrounds to document and share their experiences, concerns and issues. It is an attempt to learn from each other and grow together. The Students’ Herald will function with the specific objective of uniting and advancing the burgeoning student movement in Pakistan.

One of our foremost aims is to protest, through pen, the unjustified ban on student unions in Pakistan; pressurize the stakeholders to put an end to undemocratic and oppressive practices of muzzling student voices, and curbing their social and political freedom.

All members of The Students Herald would necessarily be part of the Progressive Students’ Collective. Students will make up 100 percent of the executive team and staff. Board advisors are exempt from this constraint as well as from being members of Progressive Students’ Collective. Advisors can guide the team along ideological, technical and legal lines but the board will have the final say on any given matter. 

Any person, student or non-student, can write for the magazine, in any language. The piece would be scrutinized along ideological lines, and for quality, and if deemed compatible with official lines, both ideologically and policy wise, must be published without prejudice. The editorial board will oversee the process. Only the material that, in the remotest way, consolidates the left-wing narrative and solidifies the case for working class resistance and politics, would be entertained. The Cultural Desk write-ups can have a trifle more margin, nevertheless quality pieces on themes of resistance, revolution and marginalization would be preferred.

Individual opinion pieces do not necessarily represent the stance of the magazine, and the board would not be held accountable for personal comments. The official narrative of the publication would be directly in line with its parent organization, the Progressive Students Collective, and will be perpetrated by monthly editorials and news reports. 

News reports will feature only student-related stories of oppression, exploitation and inequality; issues of harassment and violence inside campuses; fee hikes and academic frauds; and denial of the basic rights to students. News stories would not include personal remarks and be of 400-500 words at max. depending on the nature of the issue. Reports would be filed solely by the staff reporters. Independent individuals can pitch a story, but the board will have the final say in its framing and tailoring.

Unlike news reports, articles and features can be written on a wide array of topics. Write-ups addressing social, political, economic and environmental issues would be prioritized. Nevertheless, anything ranging from art and music to film and book reviews  is acceptable so long as it weaves a coherent story. As mentioned before, literary and artistic pieces would be referred to The Cultural Desk. The preferred length for an opinion piece/article is 700-800 words, with a lower word limit of about 600 words. Articles up to 1200 words are acceptable while those exceeding the count would be tailored to size or published as a feature if it satisfies the criterion. Features and Cultural Desk Write-ups can be as long as 2500 words.

Anyone is welcome to write for us. Write-ups can be sent to The Students’ Herald email address: Writetothestudentsherald@gmail.com You would be notified once your piece gets published. Otherwise, your article would be mailed back to you with a short review and suggestions for improvement. 

We are a volunteer-run publication.