My fear for the quality of the MEN under TM is not to do with the journalists working there but the fact that over the last year the quality of local reporting has already dipped heavily thanks to the swingeing job cuts. If the MEN moves to Oldham I seriously worry how some places will get covered – it was bad enough when the local papers had their staff moved into the centre instead of staying on their patch. How will areas like Sale get covered if the hacks are right over the other side of Greater Manchester? Carolyn McCall did suggest a couple of days ago that now the MEN had been sold she expected to see further job cuts there. That can only impact further on the amount of news being reported.

Of course I don’t expect MEN readers to all suddenly switch to the radio. My point, though, is that many may seek alternative places for their news if the MEN no longer reports on their patch.

And I totally agree about Channel M – the local joke is that only half a dozen viewers watch it, assuming they can even find it on the channel scanner. I don’t think anyone really understands why so much money – literally millions – has been wasted on it. And for what? That cash could have been used to support the MEN and the local weekly titles during the last couple of very tough years. I find that immensely sad, when so many good journalists have been made redundant but a shit TV station that no one is interested in watching continues to suck up funds.