The Guardian Media Group (GMG) has confirmed ongoing discussions with Tortoise Media regarding the potential sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.
Tortoise Media, launched five years ago by former BBC News chief and a former editor of the Times newspaper, James Harding, has proposed investing £25 million over the next five years to renew the Observer both editorially and commercially. The Observer, founded in 1791, will maintain its digital operations as a seven-day publication regardless of the negotiations’ outcome.
Observer staff were told that the investment would “help to safeguard its future” as a standalone product. While GMG is not actively seeking a sale, it is evaluating whether Tortoise’s offer is viable.
James Harding expressed strong belief in the paper’s future, highlighting the Observer’s historic significance. He said, “We believe passionately in its future – both in print and digital. George Orwell described the Observer as ‘the enemy of nonsense’. We’re excited to show readers, old and new, that it still is.”
Orwell wrote for the newspaper during World War Two and afterwards up until 1948. Another contributor was Kim Philby, the former MI6 officer and Soviet spy, who had been working for the Russians since the early 1930s.
Harding launched Tortoise Media with the former US ambassador to the UK James Barzun. It focuses on “slow news” by analysing underlying trends rather than chasing breaking news, and has struggled financially, reporting an operating loss of £4.6 million in 2022, with a turnover of £6.2m.
Despite these challenges, Tortoise remains backed by major investors, including Woodbridge, the investment firm of the Thomson family, which has a majority stake in the global media business Thomson Reuters. It is also backed by the investment firms Lansdowne Partners and LocalGlobe.
Melissa Enoch
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