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Massacre: MEN brings out 34-page 9am special in response to attack

Journalists at the Manchester Evening News worked through the night to bring out a 9am special edition this morning with 34 pages of coverage of last night’s terror attack in the city.

Reporters and photographers arrived at the scene of the attack at Manchester Arena and at casualty units across the city as initially conflicting reports of a major incident circulated on social media.

Greater Manchester Police later confirmed that people had died following an explosion at the end of a concert by U.S. pop star Ariana Grande.

As nine pages were prepared for the paper’s first edition, it was revealed that 19 people had been killed and more than 50 wounded – although the death toll was later to rise to 22.

Massacre

Online coverage on the paper’s website continued through the night, centred on a live blog with updates from reporters across the city.

Later a package of stories was prepared for online publication while a second print edition was completed for a 9am deadline, featuring 34 pages of coverage.

In a comment piece, editor in chief Rob Irvine said: “There is no justification, no defence for the monstrous crime committed in our great city last night.This was a murder of innocents.  And our hearts are breaking.

“Last night, in the blink of an eye, lives were taken, families devastated, communities left in despair.

“Indifferent to the suffering of their victims, terrorists active in Western Europe have decided to prey on crowds of pleasure-seekers.

“And so Greater Manchester has joined a tragic roll-call, sharing our grief with the people of Paris, Nice, Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm and London.”

“What can we, the people of Greater Manchester, do to help those who have suffered so much? Well, we can do what we do so well. That is we can rally together, just like we did when terrorists wreaked havoc in our city more than 20 years ago.

“Last night people offered shelter for those left stranded in the city centre. Others went to give blood. And even in the small hours of the night, social media was awash with people offering help, thoughts and prayers.

“And today, tomorrow, the next day and beyond, we can show the terrorists who want to destroy our way of life that they can never win.

“We will carry on, we will make Greater Manchester an even greater place. We will care about each other and support our neighbours. The terrorists will fail. We will prevail.”

3 comments

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  • May 23, 2017 at 9:39 am
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    A great achievement, especially in this day and age, well done to all involved.

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  • May 23, 2017 at 9:54 am
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    Well done all at the MEN, superb local journalism and a reminder of what can be done and what always gave local papers the edge with on the spot local and unrivalled in depth coverage

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  • May 23, 2017 at 11:21 am
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    I don’t mean to be negative at a time like this and I’m sure the intentions are well meant but I think their appeal to raise £50,000 for the families of those who have died or were injured is a little insensitive.

    You can’t put a price on a life or injury but effectively with 22 dead and over 50 injured but by putting a target you’re effectively doing that – and with the target set at £50,000 by my maths that’s less than £1,000 per family.

    Raise money yes, but don’t put such a low target!

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