Tortoise Media is in talks to purchase the Observer from Guardian Media Group for an investment of £25m over the next five years, according to the Guardian. The purchase would not affect the newspaper’s operations, which will continue a seven-day-a-week digital operation. The Observer, established in 1791, is the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. While GMG is not actively attempting to sell the publication, it is evaluating the offer made by Tortoise Media.
Tortoise Media, founded five years ago by James Harding, will use the investment to revamp the newspaper industrially and editorially. Harding commented on the significance of the sale, saying that “George Orwell described the Observer as ‘the enemy of nonsense’. We’re excited to show readers, old and new, that it still is.” Harding launched Tortoise Media with James Barzun, a former US ambassador to the UK. The media firm focuses on providing “slow news” and is known for publishing a news website, podcasts, and running live discussions called “Think-ins.”
Although the sale is still under review, the Observer’s employees have been informed that the investment will “help to safeguard its future” as an independent publication. Tortoise Media’s financial backers include Woodbridge, an investment firm run by the Thomson family, who own a majority stake in the global media business Thomson Reuters. The company is also supported by investment firms Lansdowne Partners and LocalGlobe.
The Observer, known for its investigative journalism, is famous for having employed writers such as George Orwell and Soviet spy and former MI6 officer Kim Philby. While the sale of the publication will not affect its digital operations, it will likely change its operations substantially, with input from Tortoise Media aimed at modernizing and updating the publication for today’s readership
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