Journalists at the Guardian and Observer are considering whether an overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action will be enough to derail talks by the Guardian Media Group (GMG) to sell off its Sunday title. The title’s NUJ chapel will meet this afternoon (20 November) to discuss next steps after a ballot found 93 per cent backed industrial action, on a 75 per cent turnout of staff. Insiders say action being considered includes stoppages during the working day, but warn growing anger towards management meant they might go to immediately announcing a set of strike days.
Bosses at GMG must be starting to wonder if plans to jettison the 233-year-old Observer are really worth causing what could be severe disruption to its global Guardian brand. Exclusive talks are continuing between GMG and the potential buyer, the digital start-up Tortoise Media, but are due to end next month. The NUJ has said any strike action will be pulled if the sell-off plans are halted.
But the GMG chief executive, Anna Bateson, told staff in an email in October that maintaining the status quo was not an option, saying the Observer was loss-making when shared costs were taken into account. The Scott Trust, the charity that funds GMG, reported a 2.5 per cent decline in revenue earlier this year, with an operating loss of £43.5m for the financial year 2023-24.
Tortoise’s boss, James Harding, a former Times editor and BBC head of news, has promised £25m of investment into the Observer over the next five years. The paper would become the main brand of Tortoise Media. It is not clear if there would be any additional payment made to GMG for the title.
Staff at the Observer reject the claim it is loss-making and are calling for a strategic review of the title, and to keep it within the Guardian fold. They are concerned that the loss-making Tortoise will be unable to sustain the Observer, thereby jeopardising its future and that of staff whose jobs are currently protected by the Scott Trust. Meanwhile, two separate consortiums have expressed an interest in buying the Observer if the Tortoise deal breaks down. One has revealed is is interested in holding the title in a trust – as with the Scott Trust – which could protect the brand “in perpetuity”.
A source told me: “There are lots of different ways we could approach this deal which would protect the Observer and its staff, give it a strong digital future and safeguard liberal journalism.”
The strike talks come just one week after the Observer editor, Paul Webster, told his 300-strong retirement gathering – including former editors and the Guardian’s current editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner – that the Observer “is a venerable and precious asset which deserves to be treated with respect, care and dignity. I greatly regret that these qualities have been far too absent in the bruising and distressing conversations about the paper’s future that have taken place in the bodies that manage our company.”
Many members of staff are furious at what they deem to be the Scott Trust giving up its commitment to the Observer and its duty to protect liberal journalism in the UK in favour of global growth and protecting its endowment. A source said: “It appears they are working to protect the endowment fund of £1.3bn, rather than letting the fund protect the journalism.”
This week, freedom-of-expression groups added their concerns in a letter to the Scott Trust about what might happen to Observer once in the hands of Tortoise.
[See also: The truth about the Allison Pearson free speech row]
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This article appears in the 20 Nov 2024 issue of the New Statesman, Combat Zone