The paper was first published in 1868 by Mitchell Henry as part of his Parliamentary election campaign. Shortly after the election the newspaper was sold to John Edward Taylor, the son of the founder and owner of the Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian). Taylor brought his brother-in-law Peter Allen in as a partner in the Evening News; after Taylor's death in 1907 the Guardian was sold to its editor C. P. Scott while the Evening News passed into the hands of the Allen family. Scott's Guardian bought the Evening News in the 1920s. From that time the two newspapers have always had a common owner – it is currently one of 62 newspapers owned by the Guardian Media Group.

Despite its "evening" title, the newspaper began publication of a morning edition in November 2004, a controversial move which brought union members to the brink of strike action over new work rotas.

In March 2005 the paper launched a cut down evening version of the paper titled MEN Lite which was distributed free to commuters within Manchester city centre. Due to low city centre sales of the 35p Evening News, the MEN Lite brand was dropped on May 2nd 2006 and was replaced with a free version of the Manchester Evening News bearing the City Edition badge.

Even though the MEN is given away free in the city centre, the newspaper still retails for 38p in the suburban shops and supermarkets. In December 2006, the paper also began free distribution at Manchester Airport. The Newspaper is also given away free at Hospitals in Manchester.

See also

• Manchester Metro News - weekly sister paper
• Manchester Evening News Arena

Notes

External links

• Homepage of the Guardian Media Group
• ManchesterEveningNews.co.uk - the "dynamic internet edition" of the Manchester Evening News
• PressDisplay - A commercial site with exact online copies of the printed edition of the Manchester Evening News