Hold the front (web) page - it’s another Manchester business news site!
Friday, 12 September 2008
Yet another Manchester-based business news website/e-mail service has spasmed into life this month, prompting the question: Is there really enough business news to go round?
I’ve been a business journalist in Manchester for four years this month, covering the North West for a national magazine. During that time, the North West Enquirer came, ran out of money, and went. Then, last year, Crain’s moved into town with bottomless pockets and a slick news operation, including a weekly paper, website and daily e-mail. This caused the Manchester Evening News to up its game with increased business coverage and Insider - a glossy monthly with little track record in the way of breaking news - to pull out all the stops with a weekly, then a daily, news e-mail (but strangely, no website). That’s in addition to the launch of some sector-specific operations, including How-Do (media) and the subscription-only Place North West (property and regeneration).
Marching purposefully into King Street, as of last week, is TheBusinessDesk.com, which has stiffened its sinews and traversed the Pennines from Yorkshire with an intitial staff of three journalists. Unlike Crain’s and Insider, the idea is to focus purely on the website and e-mail, rather than the bothersome print product. This sounds like a good idea to me, especially if they can nail a bloggier, more gossipy tone than the others. It’s also free, whereas Crain’s soon won’t be.
But I’m still tempted to ask who reads all this stuff and wonder where the saturation point lies. There are some great stories on all these sites but also a fair bit of filler. Does anyone actually want to read about a widget manufacturer in Colne that has secured a new £50,000 export order from Azerbaijan? Who cares if a Trafford Park-based recycling company has increased its turnover by £200,000 in the six months to June? And crucially, is there any evidence that advertisers are tripping over themselves to reach the Vectra driving middle-management who presumably make up the target demographic?
As usual, I have absolutely no idea. But let’s hope so.
No. 1 — September 15th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Probably a C-Class Dave. No self-respecting middle manager would be seen dead in a Vectra.