Get Involved
aAh! – Manchester Metropolitan University’s official student magazine
aAh! is Manchester Metropolitan University’s official arts and culture student magazine. Written by students, for students, we are passionate about discovering great stories and features that resonate with our 45,000 students and the broader Manchester creative community.
Launched in 2012, aAh! is a well-established online and print magazine run by student volunteers with a passion for journalism — and our city! Honest, engaging, and curious, it is a trusted source of student journalism, showcasing Manchester’s cultural offerings and shining a spotlight on the creative individuals that make our city brilliant.
We showcase a vibrant mix of news, features, reviews, and opinions across music, art, culture, lifestyle, fashion, and more online at aah-magazine.co.uk. Each print issue of aAh! magazine explores a single word as a theme, which runs through our regular features, profiles, reviews, previews, Q&As, listicles, how-tos, opinion pieces, recipes, art, illustration, photography, flash fiction and poetry.
Join the team
aAh! provides a safe space for students to be creative and have their voices heard. Students can boost their confidence and build their portfolio and CV in journalism, social media, graphic design, illustration, photography, marketing and more.
We are looking for volunteer writers, photographers, filmmakers, and artists on an ongoing basis for our online and print platforms. aAh! offers an informed, inspiring, witty, and opinionated collection of student voices and talents that make our city brilliant.
Who can get involved?
All Manchester Met students are invited to apply – you don’t have to have previous experience or be studying journalism. The only requirement is a demonstrable passion for student media.
We work with talented students with an awareness of current news, trends, and what makes great viral content. Our team sources and produces high-quality and thought-provoking articles to be posted across the aAh! website and social media platforms.
Students are awarded Rise points for all voluntary extra-curricular contributions to aAh! including engagement with team meetings, training workshops and events, as well as editorial and production duties and published submissions.
How to get involved
Check out the latest opportunities for 2024 below, register your interest and join the aAh! Magazine MS Teams Group to stay in the loop and receive invites to our weekly team meetings.
For more information or to pitch a story or multimedia project idea, email aAh.Editor@gmail.com
Dates for your diary – Weekly team meetings
Join the aAh! Magazine MS Teams Group
aAh! Open Editorial Team Meeting – Everyone welcome
Date and time: Wednesday afternoons – Check MS Teams for the latest invite or email aAh.Editor@gmail.com
Graphic Design, Photography & Illustration Team Meeting – Everyone welcome
Date and time: Wednesday afternoons – Check MS Teams for the latest invite or email aAh.Editor@gmail.com
Man Met Rise: Magazine Journalism & Design Skills Workshops – Coming soon
- Introduction to aAh! Magazine & Student Journalism: Coming soon
- Idea Generation & Pitching: Coming soon
- Feature Writing & Interview Skills: Coming soon
- Magazine Design Production Workshop: Coming soon
aAh! Editorial Team Roles
We have several exciting volunteer opportunities for Manchester Met students to become members of the core aAh! editorial team. Successful applicants will be invited to regular team meetings and training sessions. Up to 200 Rise points will be awarded for this activity.
24/25 Volunteer Editorial Team roles – Register your interest
- Journalist: All categories (including news, arts and culture, opinion, feature, lifestyle, fashion and more). Involves pitching and writing articles for online and print publications.
- Subeditor: Involves editing and proofreading across all sections.
24/25 Volunteer Section Editor roles – Register your interest
- News Editor
- Arts and Culture Editor
- Features Editor
- Opinion Editor
- Lifestyle Editor
- Fashion Editor
- Sport Editor
- International Student Community Editor
- Creative Writing Editor
As Section Editor, you will play a crucial role in coordinating our publishing schedule, writing and editing articles, and ensuring the overall quality and consistency of our online and print magazines. This role offers a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of journalism, develop essential employability skills, and build a network of contacts within the industry. Full training and support will be provided.
Section Editors are expected to be committed, and work diligently with the rest of the team to create consistently high-quality content for their section. You will be expected to attend weekly meetings, create new briefs, publish regular content, and ensure main stories are being covered. We’re looking for proactive people with strong communication skills.
Up to 200 Rise points will be awarded for this activity.
aAh! Live – Music Journalism & Photography Roles
Introducing aAh! Magazine’s dedicated music journalism and photography strand – aAh! Live. Our mission is to shine a spotlight on the artists who bring Manchester’s music culture to life and celebrate its diverse offerings in our reviews, previews, interviews, and more.
From heavy-hitting headliners playing legendary venues to emerging break-out acts in your local grassroots club, we cover it all. We want to offer new and returning students an insight into the rhythm of our city and provide a backstage pass to uncovering the stories behind the scenes.
24/25 Volunteer aAh! Live Editorial roles – Register your interest
- Music Journalist: Music, live reviews, previews, interviews and profiles
- Music Editor: Writing, editing, and coordinating section
- Music Subeditor: All categories, editing and proofreading only
- Music Photographer: Live event coverage, interviews
24/25 Volunteer Social Media roles – Register your interest
- Social Media Marketer (Facebook and Twitter)
- Social Media Marketer (Instagram)
- Social Media Marketer (LinkedIn)
As part of our growing social media team, you will create engaging content and work as part of a team improving and overseeing high quality social media output to ensure we reach a wide audience. Up to 200 Rise points will be awarded for this activity. Register your interest here.
24/25 Volunteer Graphic Design, Illustration and Photography roles – Register your interest
- Picture Editor: Online and print projects
- Photographer: Online and print projects
- Music photographer (See above for aAh! Live roles – Music Journalism)
- Illustrator: Online and print projects
- Featured Artist: Online and print projects
Showcase your art and creativity and establish a portfolio by working on live aAh! collaborative projects. Look out for our print call for Featured Artist submissions to be profiled in our upcoming print magazine.
Join the aAh! MS Teams group and attend our open meetings where we discuss print magazine ideas and briefs or pitch your ideas to aAh.Editor@gmail.com. Up to 200 Rise points will be awarded for this activity. Register your interest here.
24/25 Print Editorial & Design Collective – Work on our next print magazine (Coming soon)
We are looking for talented volunteers to join our Print Editorial and Design Collective to be involved in our upcoming print issue. This is an opportunity to gain hands on experience in a professional print magazine, work collaboratively with our creative team, and build your portfolio. We will be recruiting for the following roles:
- Journalists
- Subeditors
- Graphic designers
- Illustrators
- Photographers
Applications will open in October 2024. Up to 200 Rise points will be awarded for this activity.
aAh! Audio/Podcasting
We’re looking for talented, ambitious volunteers to support aAh! growth into audio – creating arts and culture content. Think you’ve got what it takes to host your podcast? Would you like to work alongside other students to produce engaging content? Email the team at aAh.Editor@gmail.com to pitch your ideas.
Additional paid opportunities – Advertised via Jobs4Students throughout the academic year
- Jobs4Students aAh! Editorial Assistant
- Jobs4Students aAh! Social Media Assistant
- Jobs4Students aAh! Graphic Design Collective Assistant
- Jobs4Students aAh! Commissioned Journalist
- Jobs4Students aAh! Commissioned Filmmaker
- Jobs4Students aAh! Commissioned Photographer
Owing to the excellent work done by our team, aAh! is a trusted and respected source of news among staff, students and the community. As such, we often receive requests from Manchester Met departments for aAh! team members to report on particular events happening in and around the university.
Sign up to the Jobs4Students mailing list to receive adverts. Please note that these roles are limited.