Music mag is off-message

Vice-chancellors should brace themselves for a charm offensive from the Department for Education and Skills - the success of which hinges on what newspaper they read.

A key DfES figure confided that more needed to be done to engage with vice-chancellors than was done in the first few months of Ruth Kelly's appointment as Secretary of State.

No sooner was this said than another influential figure behind the scenes in the department revealed the media strategy. "If we want to talk to students we'll give interviews to Mixmag , if we want to talk to vice-chancellors, it'll be The Daily Telegraph ."