Q&A with Chris Barry, Editor of theBusinessDesk.com

Chris Barry, Editor of TheBusinessDesk.com met with pro.manchester members today for the latest in the Meet The Editor series. After addressing members the tables were turned on journalist Chris as he answered your questions from finance to football

How does TheBusinessDesk manage to beat everyone else to be first in inboxes every day?
Getting up very early! and with the aid of some very good technology!

With the requirement to put so much news out every day, do you think the quality of reporting has deteriorated?
Quite the reverse, there is so much more to go at nowadays, when there was just MEN the stories would come to you there was no digging around. Since Crains and TheBusinessDesk we’ve had to be more rigorous in digging around for the stories, reading council meeting minutes, looking at the insolvency registers. I don’t think quality is an issue but you have to stick by the rules of old fashioned journalism and double check all your sources!

In this age of social media, where is the place for printed press?
There is a place for printed press still but they’ve got to innovate and do it differently, they’ve got to use other media to drive community and interactivity, be more analytical and present more comment.

As a journalist, what do you believe is the right balance of in-house PR/marketing resources and external agencies?
It doesn’t matter where they sit it’s who they are, if someone is good it doesn’t matter if they’re in house or external. Its relationship based.

How do you see TheBusinessDesk raising its profile in Manchester to take advantage of the demise of Crains?  What specific steps are you contemplating to raise its profile in Manchester without throwing loads of money at it?  Have you any ideas from outside the box which might help members of pro manchester raise their own profiles?
We have already capitalised on Crains, we contacted them and said ‘how can we help your readers’ we emailed all their subscribers and advertisers to try and provide a continuity of service. We have had lots of positive PR and our subscribers have gone up by over 4000. We are growing our Linked In presence trying to be at the heart of key business issues. Professionals need to be out there networking, be present on twitter and linked in and build communities and followers.

What are the plans for TheBusinessDesk moving forward?  Are you going to launch in other regions?
We have plans to improve the site, get deeper coverage, we are due to launch a share channel and include more video activity on the site. The business model is proven and we hope to expand into other regions.

What is the biggest business story you’ve ever broken?
I think the Glazer takeover of Manchester United would be the biggest one that comes to mind. Recently it would have to be the Halliwells story, we’ve had nearly 1000 subscribers sign up just to read the Halliwells news.  On a more general note its always gratifying to expose liars and scoundrels.

What news story do you wish you'd broken?
The Lloyds takeover of HBOS

Which journalists do you look up to?
Robert Peston from the BBC, he was also awesome at the Telegraph and of course I taught Kevin Feddy everything he knows!

What does ‘off the record’ really mean? 
A – Use it! Inform the reader but protect the source.

A finally a couple of football questions for fan Chris..

How did they recreate the old stadiums in the film, ‘The Damned United’?
The Damned United stadium scenes were filmed at Chesterfield’s ground which remains unchanged since the 1970’s.

Do you think 'city will win anything this year and what will that be?
Yes, one of the cups!

with thanks to Chris Barry and RMS PR for today's session.