Steve Dyson: What on earth is going at the Manchester Evening News?

Posted by Dominic Ponsford on 20 January 2010 at 09:50
Tags: Journalism, National Newspapers, Newspapers, Regional Newspapers

What on earth is going on at the Manchester Evening News, asks former Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson in his latest blog post for Holdthefrontpage?

What indeed?

First they go partially free, then they withdraw from ABC, then they row back on the part-free, part-paid strategy and come back to ABC. All the while they’ve been losing paid-for sales faster than anyone else and actually went into loss in the last six months of their financial year.

But while the strategic leadership of the paper appears to have gone down some dead-ends - the journalists themselves appear to be soldiering on admirably.

Dyson casts his expert eye over a recent copy of the MEN and declares: “Acting editor Maria McGeoghan is evidently doing a cracking job in the chair. Snap her up for the long-term position while you can!”

He adds: “And yes, we all know that the Guardian Media Trust ‘only exists to further the survival of The Guardian,’ or some-such grandiose principle.

“But hey, guys, how about a spell of stability with not too many more wild ideas for this grand old (yet very modern-looking) newspaper?”