There are three loosely related online media platforms in the north, in Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield. The Manchester one is called The Mill and has been running for a year or more (I think). It has a full-time staff of three or four, and pays decent rates to contributors (I did a book review for them). Some articles are free but the full content is subscriber funded. They do investigative stories of social concern such as the current one about a housing association called Riverside with thousands of properties, some of which are so ridden with black mould that young children have been hospitalised with life-threatening lung conditions. The Mill also does human interest and local personalities stuff, and recently ran a major piece on the Chanel outdoor fashion show in Deansgate with the excited reporter celebrity spotting Hugh Grant and possibly Cate Blanchett.
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