Journalists at the Guardian and the Observer newspapers in Britain began a 48-hour strike on Wednesday over plans to sell The Observer, the country’s oldest-running Sunday publication, to a digital media start-up.
Workers picketed outside their newsroom in London to protest the proposed sale to Tortoise Media, arguing it had been “rushed through” without the support of the staff.
It is the first strike in more than 50 years for Guardian News & Media, which publishes both papers. The Observer has run in print since 1791. The plans to sell it came to light in September and were a surprise to journalists, who are now calling for the company to pause sale negotiations and consider alternatives.
The deal is nearly done and could be announced soon, according to a person briefed on the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details were private. The Scott Trust, the owner of both publications, wanted to ensure that it would remain one of the largest shareholders with a say in The Observer’s editorial direction, an issue that was expected to be resolved shortly, the person said.
“It can’t be right to go ahead with a rushed sale when journalists haven’t been consulted and we do not understand the logic for this,” said Sonia Sodha, a columnist for The Observer who was on the picket line Wednesday morning. “We think it puts both Observer and Guardian journalism at risk.”
The Guardian bought The Observer in 1993. Executives have said the sale would allow the company to focus on international expansion.
Tortoise Media was founded by the British media veteran James Harding, a former director of BBC News, and Matthew Barzun, a former U.S. ambassador to Britain. It began publishing in 2019 with an emphasis on what it calls “slow news,” with articles, newsletters, podcasts and in-person events.
Some journalists at the newspapers have questioned the financial viability of the deal, arguing that Tortoise, a loss-making digital start-up, would not be able to protect The Observer’s future better than the Scott Trust, which has an endowment fund of 1.3 billion pounds ($1.7 billion).
Tortoise Media has proposed investing £25 million in The Observer, putting its online content behind a paywall and continuing to publish a print edition on Sundays. Tortoise’s latest investors include Standard Investments, an arm of the American conglomerate Standard Industries, and This Day, a philanthropic organization led by Gary Lubner, who is also a major donor to Britain’s Labour Party.
“While we recognize the strength of feeling toward the potential changes proposed,” a representative of the Guardian Media Group said, “our priority is to ensure The Observer’s journalism continues to have a leading role in the liberal media landscape.”
Alongside journalists, British authors, actors and other well-known figures have spoken out against the sale. Five former editors of The Observer and Alan Rusbridger, the former editor of The Guardian, recently wrote to the Scott Trust to warn that the sale was a “gamble” and urged for negotiations to be paused.
A second 48-hour strike is proposed for next week. In the meantime, the journalists’ union will negotiate with Guardian executives.
Separating The Observer from the seven-day operation of The Guardian and putting it behind a paywall would reduce the reach of The Observer’s journalism and the ability of The Guardian to provide top journalism throughout the weekend, Ms. Sodha said.
“We know that this deal is bad for The Observer and The Guardian,” she said.
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