Salford City News has printed its first edition, which hit the streets on Friday (January 24). The title is one of two titles Newsquest announced it was launching, including a new Teesside edition of the Northern Echo.
The first edition of Salford City News, which has a cover price of 80p, led with the paper’s vow to back the community. On the front page, the headline ‘Standing up for Salford’ is pitched around 20 faces from the community, including residents and celebrities who have backed the launch.
Eagle-eyed readers will also be able to spot some of the new editorial team behind the title, including editor Karl Holbrook.
He said: “It’s been an absolute delight to launch this title. We’ve heard so much from people that they feel let down and ignored, so we thought it was right that we got in there to stand up for this great city.
“Salford is a really vibrant place and it is undergoing rapid change. We want to be there to both mark that change but also stand up for the heritage, culture and people that already thrive in Salford.”
On the content readers can expect, Mr Holbrook said: “We’ve worked hard to strike the right balance with our content, which at its core has to be about celebrating Salford.
“We’ve got features in the first edition about the city’s best restaurants, a first look behind-the-scenes of the RHS Garden Bridgewater site, a catch up with a music hub that’s ploughing £750,000 into the community and a big interview with the star of The Lowry’s big new show.
“We’ve got a feature where we hand out a bouquet of flowers each week to an unsung hero and each week we’ll cast a light on a local firm in our ‘Firm Favourites’ feature.
“But we won’t shy away from the hard, breaking news either. This week we’ve got all the breaking news you’d expect from a quality newspaper, including three big court cases, a tragic inquest and, by popular demand, our before-the-bench feature casts an eye on those who’ve been dealt with in courts.
“And online – at www.salfordcitynews.co.uk – we will be all over breaking news 24/7, seven days a week.
“We think we’ve put together a really great proposition and the reaction so far has been great.”
Audience and content editor Steve Thompson, chief reporter Jamie Bowman and reporter Daniel Hopkins will lead the news content for Salford City News.
Sports editor Adam Lord will lead coverage of Salford Red Devils and Salford City FC and when it comes to creating crucial links to the community Simone O’Kane, community content manager, has been working on patch to build up links, meeting local traders and groups to sourcing the news that matters, says Newsquest. Hannah Bargery will manage online news with Gus Sivyer heading photography.
