Welcome to The Supplement.

Have you ever flicked through your newspaper, just looking out for a few main headlines? Most of us have, and with busy lifestyles reading the news becomes more of a chore than a choice. The Supplement aims to supplement your reading: it is a current affairs publication with a difference. We have read the papers for you, picking out the stories that we think are worth knowing about.

Why should you care about the ‘extra’ bits? In the contemporary world, our relationship with the media is very clinical. It is easy to flick through the paper, and think that poverty, war, and disease constitute the modern condition. Perhaps our apathy towards catastrophe can be seen as a symptom of our approach to the news. By focussing specifically on the headlines, which necessarily chart the most dramatic stories, it is possible to lose sight of the wider context. The Supplement is trying to encourage people to see the media not just as a site of information, but also a site of culture, comment, and comedy. And sometimes even the absurd.

It is important to remember that life is not just about statistics. It is worth taking the time to think about the lighter side. The Supplement draws its material entirely from the most accredited publications in the UK – we think you might be surprised by what you have missed, and equally, what gets included in our national media.

Wow. I don’t remember much of it. But it was good.

Sarah Baldwin and Holly Wallis