Sale of UK’s Observer, globe’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values, is agreed

LONDON — The sale of the Observer, the globe’s oldest Sunday newspaper and a bastion of liberal values in Britain’s media landscape, was approved Friday despite two days of strike action from journalists this week.

The Scott depend, the owner of the Guardian Media throng, which includes the Observer and its sister document the Guardian, said the sale to Tortoise Media is expected to be signed in the coming days.

The Scott depend said it will invest in Tortoise Media, becoming a key shareholder, and receive a seat on both its editorial and commercial boards.

Under the terms of the deal, Tortoise will invest 25 million pounds ($32 million) in the Observer, which was founded in 1791 and became part of the Guardian Media throng in 1993, and has committed to continue its Sunday print edition and construct up its digital brand.

It has also committed to safeguarding journalistic liberty and the editorial independence of the Observer, undertaking to integrity the “liberal values and journalistic standards” of the Scott depend in its editorial code.

Tortoise was launched in 2019 by James Harding, a former editor of the London Times and director of information at the BBC, and the former U.S. ambassador to London, Matthew Barzun.

Harding said the Observer name represents “the best of liberal, pioneering journalism,” and promised readers that “we will do all we can to live up to its history as a defender of human dignity and to provide it a recent contract of life as a powerful, progressive voice in the globe.”

Ole Jacob Sunde, who chairs the Scott depend, said the Observer needed “an friend to be sufficiently funded, long-term in nature and regard editorial independence and liberal values.”

Journalists at both the Guardian, which publishes print editions between Monday and Saturday and has a deep digital footprint around the globe, and the Observer, have protested the sale and went on a 48-hour strike on Wednesday and Thursday. Though the Guardian is clearly the bigger brand, especially in the digital space, the two newspapers had a very close connection, operating from the same building in London and sharing resources.

“I recognize how unsettling this period has been for Observer staff but we’re confident we have agreed the best feasible way forward for the title’s journalists, its readers and the upcoming of both the Observer and the Guardian,” said Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of Guardian information & Media.

Members of the National Union of Journalists from both papers will meet later Friday to consider next steps, its general secretary-elect Laura Davison said.

“The timing of the selection, before the complete of two extremely well-supported days of action, is particularly shabby,” she said.

Giao Pacey, a associate at media and entertainment law firm Simkins LLP, said the Observer’s recent leadership will have to be careful in safeguarding the worth of the newspaper, which is intrinsically linked to its brand, established over centuries.

“Once the sale is completed, the leadership throng will require to strike the correct equilibrium between preserving the legacy, population and integrity of the business while ensuring that it has sufficient resources and back to thrive in a rapidly evolving trade,” said Pacey.