 Manchester Evening News front page on 29 December 2017 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Reach plc |
| Editor | Sarah Lester[1] |
| Founded | 1868; 157 years ago (1868) |
| Political alignment | Labour |
| Headquarters | Chadderton, Greater Manchester, England |
| Circulation | 6,519 (as of 2024)[2] |
| ISSN | 0962-2276 |
| OCLC number | 500150526 |
| Website | www |
TheManchester Evening News (MEN) is a regional daily newspaper coveringGreater Manchester inNorth West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, theMEN on Sunday, was launched in February 2019.[3] The newspaper is owned byReach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror),[2] one of Britain's largest newspaper publishing groups.
Since adopting a 'digital-first' strategy in 2014, theMEN has experienced significant online growth, despite its average print daily circulation for the first half of 2021 falling to 22,107. In the 2018 British Regional Press Awards, it was named Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year.
TheManchester Evening News was first published on 10 October 1868 byMitchell Henry as part of hisparliamentary election campaign, its first issue four pages long and costing a halfpenny.[4] The newspaper was run from a small office on Brown Street, with approximately a dozen staff.[5] 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."[5] Henry's quote is displayed on the entrance wall to the newspaper's modern offices.[5]
With his Parliamentary bid unsuccessful, Henry lost interest in the business, selling the publication to John Edward Taylor Jr., the son of newspaper proprietorJohn Edward Taylor, founder of theManchester Guardian (nowThe Guardian). The newspaper became the evening counterpart and sister title toThe Manchester Guardian and the two titles began sharing an office, located on Cross Street, from 1879.[6] Taylor brought his brother-in-law Peter Allen in as a partner in theManchester Evening News and, after Taylor's death in 1907, theGuardian was sold to its editorC. P. Scott while theEvening News passed into the hands of the Allen family. In 1924, C. P. Scott's sonJohn Russell Scott reunited the papers, buying out theManchester Evening News and forming The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd, which in turn later became theGuardian Media Group (GMG).[7]
In 1936, John Russell Scott formed theScott Trust in order to protect the company fromdeath duties, following the deaths of his father and younger brotherTed in close succession.[7] The contents of the original deeds were not disclosed by the company, but a copy obtained byThe Independent revealed the terms compelled trustees to "use their best endeavours to procure that the [...]Manchester Guardian andManchester Evening News [...] shall be carried on as nearly as may be upon the same principles as they have heretofore."[8][nb 1]
During the editorship ofWilliam Haley (who later became theDirector-General of the BBC and subsequently the editor ofThe Times) in the 1930s, the newspaper's circulation grew to over 200,000.[6] By 1939 the publication was the largest provincial evening newspaper in the country.[10] The newspaper was acash cow for its parent company and kept its stablemateThe Manchester Guardian afloat. The financial success of theManchester 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."[6]
In 1961, The Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd bought out theManchester Evening News's ailing rival, theManchester Evening Chronicle, and two years later, merged the papers.[6] Following this, theManchester Evening News's circulation increased to over 480,000.[11]
From 2004 until July 2009, the newspaper collaborated withChannel M to produce that Manchester-area TV station's flagship programme, the 5pm weeknight edition ofChannel M News. The programme later expanded to include bulletins at breakfast,[12] lunchtime[13] and late evening, a weekly review programme, and also occasional live specials.
In December 2009, GMG confirmed it had held "exploratory talks" about selling theManchester Evening News,[14] following a report byThe Daily Telegraph which namedTrinity Mirror as a potential buyer and claimed the "disposal would amount to a fire sale" due to the current value of the business.[15] The title estimated theManchester Evening News alone to be worth about £200m prior to the collapse in newspaper advertising.[15]
In February 2010, theManchester Evening News was sold along with GMG's 31 other regional titles toTrinity Mirror, severing the historic link betweenThe Guardian and theManchester Evening News.[16] 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.[17] The sale of GMG's regional arm was negotiated to offset company losses, withThe Guardian and its Sunday titleObserver accruing losses of £100,000 a day.[18] The sale was described by stockbrokersNumis as "the deal of the decade" forSly Bailey, Trinity Mirror's chief executive,[18] whileThe Guardian's Steve Busfield said the sale was indicative of the declining business value of regional media, comparing the sale to that ofJohnston Press's acquisition of 53 regional titles includingThe Yorkshire Post eight years earlier, for £560m.[19]
In the year prior to the newspaper's sale, GMG had reduced the number of journalists at the newspaper to 50.[8] Judy Gordon, theNational Union of Journalistsmother 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.'"[8]
TheManchester Evening News headquarters were relocated from Scott Place in theSpinningfields area ofManchester city centre to an existing Trinity Mirror plant inChadderton, where other Trinity Mirror titles inNorth West England are printed.[20] In 2013, the title surpassed 10 million monthly online readers for the first time, recording 10,613,119 visitors.[21]
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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.
For years the paper was famous for its "Football Green" edition. After the MEN merged with the rivalManchester 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 theManchester Evening Chronicle, which was owned byManchester City chairmanSir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet.
The "Green" and "Pink" names came from being printed in paper of those colours. In the 1970s theSaturday sports paper began using white newsprint, which had become by then the industry standard. The football results were added to a pre-printed newspaper using small presses in newspaper vans usually parked near the stadiums. The final edition of the "Football Pink" was dated 12 August 2000.[citation needed]
In March 2005 the paper launched a cut-down afternoon version of the paper titledMEN Lite, which was distributed free to commuters within Manchester's city centre.
On 2 May 2006 theEvening 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 atManchester Airport and hospitals throughoutGreater 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.
A free weekly version of theManchester Evening News, theManchester Weekly News, was launched 2 April 2015. The paper is delivered to over 265,000 homes in Greater Manchester.[citation needed]
City Life – originally an independent political and cultural magazine for the Manchester area – was acquired by GMG in 1989. In December 2007,City Life ceased independent publication, subsequently becoming a 20-page supplement to the Friday issue of theManchester Evening News.[22]
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