The Guardian seems to think so. Manchester is one of five cities highlighted by the recent article, which includes quotes from Kate/Manchizzle and Aidan O’Rourke, who talks about his old site:

In my former site, Eyewitness in Manchester - a kind of forerunner to a blog - I was able to give a personal slant independent of the standard newspaper way of doing things. People appreciated that. The Manchester Evening News site Manchester Online offered me a contract to produce it as a freelance contributor. That was from 1998 to 2005.

It was also the precursor to Aidan’s current site, Aidan.co.uk, which is one of the most comprehensive and regularly updated blogs in the city.