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Regional daily unveils North-South edition split

A regional daily has split into two editions as part of a revamp designed to lead to further editionising across its patch.

The Manchester Evening News launched its North and South editions yesterday with a dedicated front page for each and a further change page inside the paper.

From March, the paper will change more prominent news and sports pages in the two editions, with pages 3, 5 and 7 containing a mix of news from the city centre and communities to either the north or south.

The revamp has also seen a new look brought in for the paper’s CityLife entertainment section, along with the launch of a new Faith Matters column featuring writers from different faith groups and a new Nostalgia section twice a week, featuring old photos from the area.

Rob Irvine, editor-in-chief of MEN Media, said: “Why North and South? A case could be argued for eight editions but for practical purposes we are focussing on a simple division, understanding from local knowledge that those north of the city tend to work and live there or in the centre and vice versa for the south.

“Further down the line we will aim to roll out further localised editions, probably aimed at home delivery customers.”

“People respond more readily to news which influences them directly or refers to people or places with which they are familiar.

“This is challenging for a regional paper covering an area the size of Greater Manchester. By creating two zones we improve our chances of connecting with readers through content.  We also increase the opportunity for the newspaper sales team to drive sales – put simply we have two front pages rather than one to promote.”

In the North edition, stories for the South will be packaged on page 15 and vice versa, so all readers get the same mix of content but prioritised according to geographical relevance.

The new editions will be backed by a marketing campaign in MEN Media’s print and online publications, along with external marketing.

Announcing the move to readers, the paper said: “There will now be two editions of your favourite paper tailored to where you live within Greater Manchester – the north and the south.

“This includes a front page dedicated to your area and specific pages inside with all the latest local news and information for where you live.

“Both editions will still carry all the big stories from across Greater Manchester, but will have a greater focus on the area where you live.”

9 comments

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  • January 8, 2013 at 9:21 am
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    Isn’t Editionising the thing we all got rid of in order to massively consolidate printing sites ? Perhaps sales and print runs have since declined to a point where we can clutch at this expensive straw again.

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  • January 8, 2013 at 10:42 am
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    Spanner makes no sense. Local papers didn’t drop editions to consolidate press sites! And there’s no big cost in creating editions, it’s just a few plate changes that cost very little and a bit more subbing. It’s amazing more papers don’t do it.l They started it a couple of years ago at the Daily Post in Wales and they have some of the best sales figures in the country. Don’t whine, follow the lead!

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  • January 8, 2013 at 11:42 am
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    Shame the subs don’t know the difference between ‘father of three’ and ‘father-of-three’.

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  • January 8, 2013 at 12:08 pm
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    Perhaps one day you’ll be able to get today’s news into today’s paper.

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  • January 8, 2013 at 12:11 pm
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    Do you not think you might be missing the bigger picture, not to mention the point, here observer?

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  • January 8, 2013 at 12:53 pm
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    Bluestringer,

    Not really. Subs do what subs do.

    Isn’t the point about doing things right, and getting things right?

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  • January 8, 2013 at 1:38 pm
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    Since Mike Unger departed this once great newspaper has fallen off the cliff.
    Messing about with edition splits and over worked fronts won’t bring it back.
    Once upon a time it was Britain’s biggest regional – ‘A Friend Dropping In’.
    Very poor now.

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  • January 8, 2013 at 3:05 pm
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    It was not that long ago that the MEN used to have four zones – A,B,C and D, so this just seems like reinventing the wheel and calling it a circular progression device.

    Ever since they had to forcibly hamstring the Metro News (cos it was embarrassing the premium product) and had to rely on the weeklies for any decent ‘out-of-city’ leads, the ego of the MEN has always far outstripped its reach.

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