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| The Skinny to launch new arts listings magazine in Manchester and Liverpool | The Skinny to launch new arts listings magazine in Manchester and Liverpool |
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| The Scottish arts monthly The Skinny is moving into the gap vacated by City Life seven years ago to launch a brand new arts and culture listings magazine in Manchester and Liverpool. | The Scottish arts monthly The Skinny is moving into the gap vacated by City Life seven years ago to launch a brand new arts and culture listings magazine in Manchester and Liverpool. |
| The freesheet has already appointed a new north-west editor, Lauren Strain, and is moving ahead with plans for a launch issue in April. The initial print run will be 22,000, though the ambitious company hopes to reach 35,000 copies by the end of its first year. | The freesheet has already appointed a new north-west editor, Lauren Strain, and is moving ahead with plans for a launch issue in April. The initial print run will be 22,000, though the ambitious company hopes to reach 35,000 copies by the end of its first year. |
| The Skinny launched in Glasgow and Edinburgh in autumn 2005, coincidentally at the same time as Guardian Media Group board members made the decision to close the 21-year-old City Life in Manchester, citing an inability to make a profit from listings magazines. | The Skinny launched in Glasgow and Edinburgh in autumn 2005, coincidentally at the same time as Guardian Media Group board members made the decision to close the 21-year-old City Life in Manchester, citing an inability to make a profit from listings magazines. |
| The Skinny has since grown to become the UK's third biggest arts and culture listings magazine, expanding into Dundee in 2007 and into Edinburgh festival coverage with a one-off partnership with Fest magazine. But the new north-west operation, which will be based in offices off Dale Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter, is the Skinny's first venture over the border. | The Skinny has since grown to become the UK's third biggest arts and culture listings magazine, expanding into Dundee in 2007 and into Edinburgh festival coverage with a one-off partnership with Fest magazine. But the new north-west operation, which will be based in offices off Dale Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter, is the Skinny's first venture over the border. |
| Lara Moloney, the Skinny's sales and marketing executive, said London was never considered for the company's first foray into England. "We've always wanted to have a Skinny empire, and Manchester and Liverpool were the obvious choices for the next step. There's just a buzz about the cities, and they have similar culturally savvy audiences to Edinburgh and Glasgow." | Lara Moloney, the Skinny's sales and marketing executive, said London was never considered for the company's first foray into England. "We've always wanted to have a Skinny empire, and Manchester and Liverpool were the obvious choices for the next step. There's just a buzz about the cities, and they have similar culturally savvy audiences to Edinburgh and Glasgow." |
| The north-west's large student population was a factor in the decision, but Moloney says the Skinny's core readership is the 24-35 age group. "About 25% of our readers are students, so having that student base definitely helps, but our journalism also focuses heavily on theatre and visual art, which tend toward older readers." | The north-west's large student population was a factor in the decision, but Moloney says the Skinny's core readership is the 24-35 age group. "About 25% of our readers are students, so having that student base definitely helps, but our journalism also focuses heavily on theatre and visual art, which tend toward older readers." |
| The Skinny's current editor in Scotland, Rosamund West, will supervise the output of the new operation, but she says a new roster of section editors for music, film, food, theatre, art, clubs and other strands will take the lead, under Strain's editorship, of digging out the best cultural journalism in Manchester and Liverpool. | The Skinny's current editor in Scotland, Rosamund West, will supervise the output of the new operation, but she says a new roster of section editors for music, film, food, theatre, art, clubs and other strands will take the lead, under Strain's editorship, of digging out the best cultural journalism in Manchester and Liverpool. |
| "The Skinny is very much a collection of voices," West says. "Our section editors are experts in their field, so we trust them to know their subject inside out and provide the local knowledge and character." | "The Skinny is very much a collection of voices," West says. "Our section editors are experts in their field, so we trust them to know their subject inside out and provide the local knowledge and character." |
| While section editor positions will be advertised very soon to build the team that will produce the April launch issue, Moloney defended the Skinny's practice of using unpaid and voluntary contributors for much of the magazine's review content. "We're very much a springboard for young talented writers to launch their careers, and we train and support their development wherever we can. | While section editor positions will be advertised very soon to build the team that will produce the April launch issue, Moloney defended the Skinny's practice of using unpaid and voluntary contributors for much of the magazine's review content. "We're very much a springboard for young talented writers to launch their careers, and we train and support their development wherever we can. |
| "We're very proud of our contributors when they move on – one of our former film editors is now editor of The List. We do pay when we can, for example with cover pictures or lead features, but it's the reality of the industry and we have to adapt to survive." | "We're very proud of our contributors when they move on – one of our former film editors is now editor of The List. We do pay when we can, for example with cover pictures or lead features, but it's the reality of the industry and we have to adapt to survive." |
| Flicking through the January edition of the Skinny, there's a cover feature on Aberdonian troubadour Rick Redbeard, a personal account of the intersections of polyamory and neurodiversity (in a section of the magazine labelled 'Deviance'), and the results of the Skinny's annual food and drink survey to find the best places "for some scran and a bevvy". These features sit alongside a compendious exhibition, music and film review section – the Skinny certainly doesn't skimp on the breadth of its arts coverage. | Flicking through the January edition of the Skinny, there's a cover feature on Aberdonian troubadour Rick Redbeard, a personal account of the intersections of polyamory and neurodiversity (in a section of the magazine labelled 'Deviance'), and the results of the Skinny's annual food and drink survey to find the best places "for some scran and a bevvy". These features sit alongside a compendious exhibition, music and film review section – the Skinny certainly doesn't skimp on the breadth of its arts coverage. |
| So what do you think? Is there room in the north-west's crowded media landscape for more cultural coverage? Do you use online listings and arts coverage such as Seven Streets in Liverpool or Manchester Confidential, or do you pine for the days when you could pass a magazine round the pub? | So what do you think? Is there room in the north-west's crowded media landscape for more cultural coverage? Do you use online listings and arts coverage such as Seven Streets in Liverpool or Manchester Confidential, or do you pine for the days when you could pass a magazine round the pub? |
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