Welcome to this week's 'Unmissable', our digest of the stories we think you might have missed
News Rob Williams Features and Perspectives Editor 15:56, 02 Apr 2025
To badly misquote a famous beer advert - Manchester Evening News journalism goes places that other publications cannot reach.
Welcome to this week's 'Unmissable', our digest of the stories we think you might have missed.
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The frenetic nature of the news agenda combined with the algorithmic whims of the tech giants means we think readers are sometimes missing some of our best stories.
'Unmissable' is our way of connecting directly with readers and telling them about the best bits they might have missed.
We recently produced a raft of content marking the anniversary of the first Covid lockdown - this week we continued to cover that historic moment in Greater Manchester’s history with an extraordinary article by our health reporter Helena Vesty.
‘I was making life or death decisions while targeted by trolls', is a deep-dive into how the pandemic changed the NHS for good and for ill. It’s perhaps most notable for its startling insight into the aggression and abuse some medics faced during Covid and the post-pandemic era.
The article also contains the oft-forgotten fact that Manchester was twinned with Wuhan at the start of the pandemic.
Over the weekend we also published this brilliantly readable interview with veteran councillor John Warmisham, a fascinating insight into the row over a modernist wall at UMIST, a provocative read on how HMOs are changing our communities and an insight into food poverty in some of Greater Manchester’s most prosperous areas.
These are all pieces only the Manchester Evening News could write.
And just by way of blowing our own trumpet a little more I thought I’d mention the current numbers from Ipsos Iris illustrating that the M.E.N. remains the biggest regional news brand in the UK with around 12m readers a month.
We could have kept that one to ourselves of course, but that’s just not the Manchester way. Have a great week...
'I was making life or death decisions while being targeted by trolls'
Helena Vesty reports on how Greater Manchester's NHS was irrevocably changed by the pandemic as it was brought to breaking point. Dive in here.
Exit stage left, the proud Salford 'gobsh*te'
John Warmisham has served Salford for thirty-five years - from party political streetfighter to respected veteran councillor. He tells Neal Keeling he's lost none of his passion for justice. You can read it here.
'Would you clip the wings off the Angel of the North?'
Read all about the fight to save Manchester's other 'Berlin Wall' here.
They're ‘changing the face of neighbourhoods’ and residents are thinking of selling up
As hundreds of new shared homes are created across Greater Manchester, pressure is growing for more regulation. Learn more here.
'You would think in M20 and M21 it’s not an issue - it is, but it's very well hidden'
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Chorlton is synonymous with suburban Manc cool - but there are plenty struggling to get by. Ethan Davies reports here.
'If they take my benefits I'll be in debt straight away'
Welfare cuts have not gone down well in two Greater Manchester towns. Read about it here.
