The Mancunion has existed in a various forms since 1969. Student Direct was a newspaper that covered all of the universities of Greater Manchester. Over the years Student Direct began to split into its component parts, including The Mancunion and The Salfordian, the student newspaper of the University of Salford Students' Union. In October 2014, British tabloid The Sun contacted UK student media outlets asking them to find photos of students wearing offensive costumes at Halloween. The Mancunion broke this story, leading to attention from national media.