Manchester Evening News journalists covering the aftermath of the terrorist attack in the city have received a transatlantic message of solidarity – in the form of pizza.

The MEN received a takeaway gift yesterday courtesy of the Boston Globe newspaper as part of a tradition which is already well-established in the American press.

The ‘newsroom pizza chain’ has seen newspapers across the USA send each other gifts of food and drink in the aftermath of major events affecting their patches.

In 2013, the Chicago Tribune sent pizza to journalists at the Globe who were covering the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.

MEN staff with the pizza provided by the Boston Globe

Other examples include the Globe sending pizza to Baltimore Sun reporters covering the city’s 2015 riots after the death of African-American Freddie Gray while in a police vehicle, while two months later Sun staff themselves sent takeaway food to journalists at the Charleston Post and Courier reporting on a spree shooting perpetrated by white supremacist murderer Dylann Roof at a church on its patch.

The MEN, which has raised more than £1m for those affected by Monday night’s attack, showed its gratitude to the Globe in a post on its official Twitter account.

Editor Rob Irvine added: “Big thanks from [the MEN] to [Globe editor Brian McGrory] and [Boston Globe] for lunch today.”