Thommo and print

During his time at Merton College, Oxford University, Mark Thompson edited the student magazine Isis. In the early seventies, the students had just taken back control from Robert Maxwell, who'd tried to make it a national magazine and failed. In 1972, it was saved by a cheque for £1,000 from Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, to settle a printer's bill. In Thommo's time, just after that, it was published fortnightly on Fridays during the academic terms - 12 issues cost £2. In the editor's chair, he turned down an article from Lionel Barber, now editor of the Financial Times. Now the magazine is part of Oxford Student Publications, which also produces the newspaper Cherwell; Isis is printed once a term, and has a subscription-free website. Whatever time Mark devoted to print, he still managed a 1st in English.

At the BBC, the staff newspaper Ariel stopped printing in December last year, after more than 75 years. It now exists only as a website.