Key103 is a quality radio station. Cool is what its not, but damn fun is what it is. Located on…read moreCastle Quay between Deansgate and Castlefield, Key103 is linked to MagicFM, whose Manchester branch is right next door. As well as classic r'n'b tunes and all the latest chart hits, Key103 also specialize in football. As they pride themselves on being Manchester's real local radio station, they always air both the Manchester United and the Manchester City games. They do this through their link with Magic, by airing one game on each channel, if they're playing at the same time. Located in a picturesque setting on the canal just across a bridge from the famous Dukes92 and BarCa, Key103 base is also worth a visit. Its next to a nice bar, called Lava, which is lesser known but in my opinion better than Dukes on a rainy day.

Key 103 is almost exactly like Real Radio. It's poppy, it's loud, it's happy and it's Real's worst…read moreenemy in the competition stakes. Come on, GMG and Bauer hate each other, we media-savvy geeks all know this. It runs so deep that radio jobhunters even leave Bauer and GMG stations anonymous on their CVs. I know this. Talk about going over to the dark side... Formerly Piccadilly Radio, it was born in 1974 and became the Key we know in 1988. It broadcasts in Manchester but covers pretty much the entire North West, as I found out on my coach trip from Liverpool Airport to Manchester. You'll get what's in the charts, that's for sure, with the occasional tacky classic thrown in for good measure. Not what I'd personally choose to tune into, but hey, if everybody looked the same, we'd all get tired of looking at each other. Wait, that doesn't quite work...

We booked a tour of the BBC at Media City UK a few weeks ago, make sure you book well in advance as…read morethese tours sell out very quickly! Media City UK is the newest part of the BBC in the UK and its huge, and its expanding even more. We was on the 10:45am tour which starts in the main foyer of the BBC studios right in the heart of Media City UK, you have to check in at the lobby where a lovely receptionist asks for youre confirmation and then they give you a lanyard each. Two girls introduced themselves to everyone in the party who worked for the BBC and told us a little bit about themselves and what we was about to see. There was about 10 other people in the tour group including ourselves which i thought was great as i like the intimacy and wouldn't want to be in a huge group. We was firstly taken to where they film BBC Sports in one of the huge buildings, where we could see where they filmed and where people work in the BBC sports section, unfortunately we wasn't shown it right up front though but through huge glass windows but you could get to see where its all done. After this you are taken to a mock up of the BBC breakfast studio where they ask you to volunteer to take part in a mock up of the BBC breakfast news and weather, i was taken up to take part which was fun where you get to read the news and see what its like for the presenters. you can take as many pictures as you like in this area, unfortunately though you are not shown the real BBC Breakfast studio though. After this we are taken to another huge building where BBC radio 6 is and you get to see a real DJ box and all the equipment which i thought was the best bit of the tour, as i love music. so i got to sit in the Dj seat where some famous DJS have sat before. the tour guides are really good at telling everything about how the DJS work and what they have to do. After this we are then taken to the Studios where they have filmed The Voice,Match of the Day amongst many others, we didn't get to see the studio where they filmed the Voice which was a little disappointing but we did get to see the Studio where they filmed Match of the Day, unfortunately it wasn't football season so it was all getting packed away though the tour guides was really good in telling us everything about the studios. After this we are then taken to a sound studio where they perform Radio shows,such as the Arches, a bit boring for me but still very interesting. At all times the tour guides were excellent and told us and the rest of the party absolutely everything we needed to know and if we had any questions to ask them. The tour lasts for a good 1 Hour and 30 Minutes and for £10 each it a fantastic price for everything you get to see but wish they would have shown us a bit more, like the real BBC breakfast set and more of the studios. But we had a great time and would recommend to anyone.

A brief but exploratory visit on Saturday - I even found the TARDIS from the photo!…read more My brother's friend was hosting a premiere of his short film Assassin. I'd never been invited to a premiere before so I was super excited to go. We were to go to Dock 10 to be met by our hosts and taken to The Landing. Up 7 floors we went and we arrived at "The Landing". We were taken through some swish fancy doors in to a tiny, plush, private cinema screen - with sofa's for chairs! Well... almost! The chairs were chairs, but they were HUGE. And some at the front even had leg raisers! I regretted instantly not going for the front row... Everything was so comfy and well looked after. Through the 15 minute screening, it felt like an actual cinema and the sound was so much better in the smaller space. I didn't want to leave and glad that they played the short film twice! I made sure to visit the toilets before I left - bright, immaculate toilets that smelt 'nice'. On our way in and out the security were firm but very nice. The BBC should be proud of their security. They question everything but they help you along your way. No one would be able to get past them without an answer! I'm hoping I can go again to explore more!

Manchester University Press are a well-known publishing house who focus on academic books. Though…read morethey are on the same premises they are not in fact linked to the University of Manchester. Don't be fooled by the admittedly misleading title 'Manchester University Press' because they're a private company. Having said that, it does have great links to the university and often publishes books written by its finest academics. The head editing publishing chappy is a nice man. It was founded way back in 1904 when it was specifically concerned with publishing texts from Manchester Victoria University but now it has a broader range of publishings, which is not a real word so they wouldn't publish it but I don't care na na na na na.

Gold Radio's roots go all the way back to 1988 with London's Capital Gold. The formula of…read morebroadcasting "all-time classic hits" aimed at over-50s is a vastly successful one, as Gold Radio now broadcasts to Manchester on 1458 AM. Its output is still a bit retro for me. I mean, Status Quo aren't really that exciting are they? And I struggle to listen in an ironic way because it's not really like having fun listening to the rocking classics on Rock Radio. But if you're a bit older, and fancy relaxing and listening to some classic tracks, Gold Radio is certainly worth a go.

The MEN is a great regional newspaper…read more It's not perfect but it's ours and I personally love it. It's hard to see why they give it away for free in the city centre. But it does mean that EVERYONE in the city centre reads it! You can't get away from it, the only way to fend off the enthusiastic street vendors is to walk down the street holding a copy! But when you haven't got a copy, you do miss it. Bus journeys seem twice as long! Plus you'll end up being left out once you actually get to work! There's always at least one article that everyone is either outraged or hugely amused by! I really do generally enjoy reading it, sure there are mistakes but it's a regional newspaper so they have the bare minimum staff! Sure there are a lot of adverts but they give it away for free so they have to raise revenue somehow! The charity campaigns, as Emma-Louise has mentioned, are really well done. The 'Cash Back' campaign for Christies charity to reclaim £6.5 million from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme really captured the heart of Manchester and it was a huge success too! I love to see the paper doing well and I love to see Manchester getting behind it. Long live the MEN!

The Manchester Evening News (MEN) is a tabloid newspaper which is a local newspaper distributed…read morearound Manchester, in addition to local newspapers towns in Greater Manchester might have, for example I'm from Middleton and locally we have The Middleton Guardian, but on a large scale we have The Manchester Evening News. Most people in Manchester will have heard of and probably read the MEN, with a circulation of over 50,000 it is quite respectable for a local paper but only 1/16 of the readers of the London Evening Standard. The Manchester Evening News was always distributed free, up until January 2010, when between Manchester to Friday, it was handed out for free in the city centre in other locations, but now it is only free on Thursday's and Friday's, but still remains paid for outside of the city center, which is also giving those who don't live in the city centre a bad deal. I've always found the newspaper to be a typical tabloid, owned by the Mirror they focus on sport, and apart from that it is quite a poor paper, minus a few local articles which do get covered here, and it certainly isn't worth paying for, and sometimes it isn't even worth picking it up if it is free, the handing out of papers can get repetitive too, if you're going round the city center, you could meet half a dozen sales reps trying to hand you a "free" paper or trying to sell them, which is a waste of money. I'd like to offer MEN some advice to follow the approach of London, in setting up stands at train and tube stops, this means they don't have to pay wages of staff just to hand out papers, and they can be used in other roles, meaning the public don't feel harassed and this would save money too, meaning the newspaper could be free on more days, meaning they can make more money through advertising for example and make it overall a better local paper, this would help it to compete with other regional papers readership totals, such as the Evening Standard. Manchester does have a smaller population than London, but I don't see why the readership can't be doubled or trebled with a few right moves, but for now it is just below average and deserves 2 stars. I do like the feature how on Mothers Day and Fathers Day you can print a message in the paper for free online, but other than this and few good sport and local articles, this paper really isn't good for anything else.

So. You want to know what's happening in the city of Mancland. You want to know on a fairly regular…read morebasis. You want to be inundated with offers, discounts, news and morsels. Where do you go? My profile of course! Except that I can't inundate you with offers and discounts, my Twitter has some news but otherwise... I fail. So I will take it as no personal insult if you subscribe to Pride of Manchester. Located in Castle Quay, something of a hidden creative hub at the end of Deansgate, Pride picks up where Manchester Confidential disappeared up its own... hype. You've only got to look at the Stone Roses backdrop on the website to see how seriously it takes its Mancunian heritage. It's a great stepping off point if you're on here seeking out places for dinner - the process is to find a restaurant on Yelp and check if there's a voucher or set menu offer via Pride. What could be simpler? It's full of great discounts and vouchers for the non-chain restaurants, special offers for theatre visits, lists of restaurants and bars by area - Castlefield, Chorlton, the Northern and Southern Quarters and suchlike - with email alerts and overall, clarity that Manchester Confidential could only dream of. There's the odd untidy element that can be overlooked - there are a lot of blank slates on the site that need fleshing out somewhat, such as bars sadly lacking an 'official' Pride page. Nevertheless, they have been covering the city for a good ten years now and the clue is in the title. The people behind the website love Manchester as much as the people who are frequenting the social outlets here... in fact they share our Yelp 'realism' ethos. Perhaps Eric Cantona put it best, as he's quoted on the website itself: "I feel close to the rebelliousness and vigour of the youth here. Perhaps time will separate us, but nobody can deny that here, behind the windows of Manchester, there is an insane love of football, of celebration and of music." Amen to that, you recently revamped and ever present French dude. Amen to that.