Manchester Evening News

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Manchester Evening News
ManchesterEveningNewscover.jpg
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s) Reach plc
EditorDarren Thwaites
Founded1868;151 years ago (1868)
Political alignment Labour
Headquarters Chadderton, Greater Manchester, England
Circulation 35,417 (as of December 2018) [1]
ISSN 0962-2276
OCLC number 500150526
Website ManchesterEveningNews.co.uk

The Manchester Evening News (sometimes abbreviated to the MEN) is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England. Founded in 1868, the paper is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the MEN on Sunday, was launched in February 2019. [2] The newspaper is owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror), [2] one of Britain's largest newspaper publishing groups.

Greater Manchester County of England

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and designated a functional city region on 1 April 2011.

North West England region of England in United Kingdom

North West England, one of nine official regions of England, consists of the five counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom after the South East and Greater London. The largest settlements are Manchester, Liverpool, Warrington, Preston, Blackpool and Chester.

Reach plc is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of Britain's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, The Sunday People, Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Star Sunday as well as the Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail and the magazine OK!. Since purchasing Local World, it has gained 83 print publications. Reach plc's headquarters are at Canary Wharf in London. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, it is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.

Contents

Since adopting a 'digital-first' strategy in 2014, the publication has experienced huge online growth, while its average print daily circulation for the first half of 2018 was 36,715. In the 2018 British Regional Press Awards, it was named Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year.

History

Formation and The Guardian ownership

The Manchester Evening News was first published on 10 October 1868 by Mitchell Henry as part of his Parliamentary election campaign, with its first issue four pages long and costing a halfpenny. [3] The newspaper was run from a small office on Brown Street, with approximately a dozen staff. [4] Upon the newspaper's launch, Henry said: "In putting ourselves into print, we have no apology to offer, but the assurance of an honest aim to serve the public interest." [4] Henry's quote is displayed on the entrance wall to the newspaper's modern offices. [4]

Mitchell Henry British politician

Mitchell Henry was an English financier, politician and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was MP for Galway County from 1871 to 1885, and for Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown from 1885 to 1886.

Parliament of the United Kingdom Supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known internationally as the UK Parliament, British Parliament, or Westminster Parliament, and domestically simply as Parliament or Westminster, is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the Sovereign (Queen-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The two houses meet in the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster, one of the inner boroughs of the capital city, London.

With his Parliamentary bid unsuccessful, Henry lost interest in the business, selling the publication to John Edward Taylor Jr., the son of newspaper proprietor John Edward Taylor, founder of the Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian ). The newspaper became the evening counterpart and sister title to The Manchester Guardian and the two titles began sharing an office, located on Cross Street, from 1879. [5] Taylor brought his brother-in-law Peter Allen in as a partner in the Manchester Evening News and, after Taylor's death in 1907, the Guardian was sold to its editor C. P. Scott while the Evening News passed into the hands of the Allen family. In 1924, C. P. Scott's son John Russell Scott reunited the papers, buying out the Manchester Evening News and forming The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd, which in turn later became the Guardian Media Group (GMG). [6]

John Edward Taylor was an English business tycoon, editor and publisher, who was the founder of the Manchester Guardian newspaper in 1821, which was renamed in 1959 The Guardian.

<i>The Guardian</i> British national daily newspaper

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, the Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders.

C. P. Scott British journalist, publisher and politician

Charles Prestwich Scott, usually cited as C. P. Scott, was a British journalist, publisher and politician. Born in Bath, Somerset, he was the editor of the Manchester Guardian from 1872 until 1929 and its owner from 1907 until his death. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament and pursued a progressive liberal agenda in the pages of the newspaper.

In 1936, John Russell Scott formed the Scott Trust in order to protect the company from death duties, following the deaths of his father and younger brother Ted in close succession. [6] The contents of the original deeds were not disclosed by the company, but a copy obtained by The Independent revealed the terms compelled trustees to "use their best endeavours to procure that the [...] Manchester Guardian and Manchester Evening News [...] shall be carried on as nearly as may be upon the same principles as they have heretofore." [7] [nb 1]

An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate of a person who has died.

Edward Taylor "Ted" Scott was a British journalist, who was editor and briefly co-owner of the Manchester Guardian, and the younger son of its editor-owner C. P. Scott.

<i>The Independent</i> British online daily newspaper

The Independent is a British newspaper that was established in 1986 as a politically independent national morning paper published in London. Nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only an online edition. It tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as "free from party political bias, free from proprietorial influence".

During the editorship of William Haley (who later became the Director-General of the BBC and subsequently the editor of The Times ) in the 1930s, the newspaper's circulation grew to over 200,000. [5] By 1939 the publication was the largest provincial evening newspaper in the country. [9] The newspaper was a cash cow for its parent company and kept its stablemate The Manchester Guardian afloat. The financial success of the Manchester Evening News was reflected in Haley's salary, which was even greater than John Scott's, with Scott himself acknowledging, "after all, you make the money we spend." [5]

William Haley Jersey journalist

Sir William John Haley, KCMG was a British newspaper editor and broadcasting administrator.

The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC.

<i>The Times</i> British daily compact newspaper owned by News UK

The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently, and have only had common ownership since 1967.

In 1961, The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd bought out the Manchester Evening News's ailing rival, the Manchester Evening Chronicle, and two years later, merged the papers. [5] Following this, the Manchester Evening News's circulation increased to over 480,000. [10]

Trinity Mirror acquisition

In December 2009, GMG confirmed it had held "exploratory talks" about selling the Manchester Evening News, [11] following a report by The Daily Telegraph which named Trinity Mirror as a potential buyer and claimed the "disposal would amount to a fire sale" due to the current value of the business. [12] The title estimated the Manchester Evening News alone to be worth about £200m prior to the collapse in newspaper advertising. [12]

In February 2010, the Manchester Evening News was sold along with GMG's 31 other regional titles to Trinity Mirror, severing the historic link between The Guardian and the Manchester Evening News. [13] The sale was valued at £44.8m – £7.4m in cash and the remainder from GMG extricating itself from a £37.4m decade-long contract with Trinity Mirror to print its regional titles. [14] The sale of GMG's regional arm was negotiated to offset company losses, with The Guardian and its Sunday title Observer accruing losses of £100,000 a day. [15] The sale was described by stockbrokers Numis as "the deal of the decade" for Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror's chief executive, [15] while The Guardian's Steve Busfield said the sale was indicative of the declining business value of regional media, comparing the sale to that of Johnston Press's acquisition of 53 regional titles including The Yorkshire Post eight years earlier, for £560m. [16]

In the year prior to the newspaper's sale, GMG had reduced the number of journalists at the newspaper to 50. [7] Judy Gordon, the National Union of Journalists mother of the chapel, said: "The Guardian has not got any money of its own. It has only got what other people give it. We've made all those changes to stem the fact that our profits are dropping. Then they ask: 'How much can you give us now? Nothing? OK, Bye.'" [7]

The Manchester Evening News headquarters were relocated from Scott Place in the Spinningfields area of Manchester city centre to an existing Trinity Mirror plant in Chadderton, where other Trinity Mirror titles in North West England are printed. [17] In 2013, the title surpassed 10 million monthly online readers for the first time, recording 10,613,119 visitors. [18]

Editions

Despite its "evening" title, the newspaper began publication of a morning edition in November 2004, a controversial move which brought union members to the brink of strike action over new work rotas.

"Football Green" and "Football Pink"

For years the paper was famous for its "Football Green" edition. After the MEN merged with the rival Manchester Evening Chronicle in the 1960s, its more popular "Sporting Pink" was adopted as the "Football Pink". The "Football Pink" was first issued in 1904 as part of the Manchester Evening Chronicle, which was owned by Manchester City chairman Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet.

The "Green" and "Pink" names came from being printed in paper of those colours. In the 1970s the Saturday sports paper began using white newsprint, which had become by then the industry standard. The papers were printed in mobile presses inside newspaper vans usually parked near the stadiums. Actually, the Green was a Summer version, with most of the content about cricket with Lancashire's games featuring throughout the season

MEN Lite

In March 2005 the paper launched a cut-down afternoon version of the paper titled MEN Lite, which was distributed free to commuters within Manchester's city centre.

Part-free

On 2 May 2006 the Evening News dropped the "Lite" edition in favour of a "part-free, part-paid" distribution model for the main paper. Copies were free in Manchester city centre, while readers outside that area continued to pay for the paper.

In December 2006, the paper also began free distribution at Manchester Airport and hospitals throughout Greater Manchester.

In December 2009, the newspaper announced that as of January 2010 the paper would no longer be handed out free Monday to Wednesday in the city centre and other selected locations. Instead they would be handed out free as previously on Thursdays and Fridays, but would regain their paid-for status in these locations at all other times.

Manchester Weekly News

A free weekly version of the Manchester Evening News, the Manchester Weekly News, was launched 2 April 2015. The paper is delivered to over 265,000 homes in Greater Manchester. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Evening Standard</i> Regional free daily tabloid-format newspaper in London

The Evening Standard is a local, free daily newspaper, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format in London. Since 2009 it has been owned by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev. It is the dominant local/regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London finance. Its current editor is former UK Conservative Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. In October 2009, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan.

Guardian Media Group media company of the United Kingdom

Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British mass media company owning various media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The group is wholly owned by Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity.

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Media of the United Kingdom

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The Reading Post was an English local newspaper covering Reading, Berkshire and surrounding areas. The title page of the paper featured the Maiwand Lion, a famous local landmark at Forbury Gardens. The paper was most recently published by Surrey & Berkshire Media Ltd., a division of Trinity Mirror plc.

<i>Surrey Advertiser</i>

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The Huddersfield Daily Examiner is an English local daily evening newspaper covering news and sport from Huddersfield and its surrounding areas.

Manchester Metro News

The Manchester Metro News is a British weekly newspaper published each Friday by Trinity Mirror plc. It was established in 1987 as a free sister paper to the Manchester Evening News featuring a round up of the week's news. These days the paper also has a 12-page supplement called Metromagazine and a total circulation of 308,589 in the south Manchester area . It has a smaller geographical reach than the M.E.N.. It is delivered in south and east Manchester, Stockport, Trafford and the Wilmslow area - and has three separate geographical editions: City, Trafford and Stockport. Most of the content of the paper is the same for all three editions, but a few pages differ, with more local advertising and editorial. In February 2010 along with the Guardian Media Group's other regional and local titles, the newspaper was sold to competitor Trinity Mirror plc. This was in order to safeguard the future of the loss making newspaper The Guardian.

<i>Cambridge News</i> daily newspaper published in Cambridge

The Cambridge News is a British daily newspaper. Published each weekday and on Saturdays, it is distributed from its Waterbeach base. In the period December 2010 – June 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 20,987, but by December 2016 this had fallen to around 13,000. In 2018, the circulation of the newspaper fell to 8,005.

<i>Bristol Post</i>

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The Tameside Advertiser is a weekly newspaper which serves the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. It is owned by Trinity Mirror plc. The paper has a sister paper, The Glossop Advertiser which is also a freesheet but covers the bordering town of Glossop in Derbyshire. The main competitors to both papers are the Tameside Reporter and Glossop Chronicle which are both paid-for newspapers. The newspaper recently featured in the 'Rotten Boroughs' section of Private Eye magazine after the Department for Communities and Local Government produced the whitepaper 'Guidance for local authorities on community cohesion contingency planning and tension monitoring'. The whitepaper revealed that:

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<i>Grimsby Telegraph</i> Daily British regional newspaper

The Grimsby Telegraph is a daily British regional newspaper for the town of Grimsby and the surrounding area that makes up North East Lincolnshire including the rural towns of Market Rasen and Louth. The main area for the paper's distribution is in or around Grimsby and Cleethorpes. It is published six days a week with a free sister paper being published once per week.

<i>Burton Mail</i>

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Northcliffe Media Ltd. was a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, owned by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT).

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Clause 9 of the Trust Deed states: "The Settlors whilst not purporting to impose any binding trust or obligation in that respect desire that the persons becoming entitled to the Settled Funds shall use the best of their endeavours to procure that the business of the Company shall be continued and that the Manchester Guardian and Manchester Evening News or any other paper or papers or other medium for collecting and disseminating news comment or opinion in which the Company the Company's successors or any subsidiary company of either of them shall then be interested shall be carried on as nearly as may be upon the same principles as they have heretofore been conducted and carried on while under the guidance of the said John Russell Scott and his family and the Trustees of the 1936 Settlement." [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Manchester Evening News". Audit Bureau of Circulations . Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  2. ↑ Sharman, David (11 February 2019). "First Sunday edition hits newsstands as MEN goes seven-days a week". Hold the Front Page. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  3. ↑ "Manchester Evening News". British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 Keeling, Neal & Osuh, Chris (10 October 2018). "'In putting ourselves into print, we have no apology to offer, but the assurance of an honest aim to serve the public interest' — The Manchester Evening News, 150 years of telling your stories". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 17 October 2018.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 Tryhorn, Chris (9 February 2010). "Manchester Evening News: intertwined with the Guardian for 142 years". The Guardian . Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Key moments in the Guardian's history: a timeline". The Guardian . 16 November 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Herbert, Ian (22 February 2010). "End of the old guard: The sale of the Manchester Evening News". The Independent . Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Taylor (1993), p. 308.
  9. ↑ Gallagher, Paul (9 October 2018). "1868 Quiz: Which of these great Manchester institutions have been around longer than the M.E.N.?". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "History of Manchester Evening News". Manchester Evening News. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  11. ↑ Brook, Stephen (17 December 2009). "Talks held on Manchester Evening News sale, says Guardian Media Group". The Guardian . Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  12. 1 2 Neate, Rupert (17 December 2009). "Guardian discusses selling Manchester Evening News". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  13. ↑ Mostrous, Alexi (9 February 2010). "Guardian Media Group offloads regional newspaper arm". The Times.
  14. ↑ Busfield, Steve (9 February 2010). "Guardian Media Group sells regional business to Trinity Mirror". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  15. 1 2 Neate, Rupert (10 February 2010). "GMG sells Manchester Evening News for £7.4m cash". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  16. ↑ Busfield, Steve (10 February 2010). "What are regional papers worth if the MEN sale is the 'deal of the decade'". The Guardian . Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  17. ↑ "Manchester Evening News sold by Guardian Media Group". Manchester Evening News. 9 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012.
  18. ↑ Halliday, Josh (28 August 2013). "Regional newspaper website traffic brings relief to decline in print sales". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  19. ↑ Monroy, Raquel (18 March 2015). "Get ready to welcome Britain's newest and biggest free weekly newspaper!". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 12 April 2017.

Bibliography

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