The sale of The Observer is a bold move, the first perhaps of many, let’s hope it’s a success
Journalists at The Guardian, that playpen for liberals, walked out at news that sister Sunday newspaper The Observer was being sold. Why? The deal could prove to be one of the most progressive struck in the industry for years.
The world’s oldest Sunday title was bought by Tortoise Media, a startup company co-founded by James Harding, a former editor of The Times and director of BBC news.
The chairman of the £1.3 billion Scott Trust, which owns The Guardian and since 1993 The Observer too, said at the weekend: “The current situation at The Observer is not tenable… we have tried to act responsibly.”
Ole Jacob Sunde had been attacked by Observer journalists at a meeting for agreeing to a “shit deal”. But he promised to listen to other bidders who claimed their offers had been given the brush-off.
Sunde said: “We have very diligently tried to follow up on all the leads we’ve had, but all have been dead ends. [They have] ended in a lawyer’s office. Or no names. Or very sketchy overall plans with little substance.
“But we invite them to be more specific.”
Tortoise, meanwhile, pledged to revive The Observer, first published in 1791 and the newspaper in which George Orwell published much of his journalism. Harding’s online operation has yet to make a profit six years after its launch, but has still managed to raise £25 million to invest in the paper.
In return, the Guardian Media Group takes a £5 million stake in Tortoise and the Scott Trust will have a seat on the board.
The Observer has not had a distinct online presence of its own. Its stories ran alongside those of The Guardian on its huge and impressive website. Tortoise promises to change that and give The Observer its own digital identity.
But it will be less about instant news and more about narrative investigations, eyewitness reporting and data journalism. Tortoise says it is part of the slow journalism movement, concentrating not on breaking news but on what is driving it.
It carries lots of podcasts and claims: “We take time to investigate human stories that we think offer a deeper, longer-lasting understanding of what’s happening in the world.”
Under Tortoise, The Observer will operate behind a paywall. It is a model America’s The Atlantic magazine used to drive its revival in print and online.
A statement from Tortoise said: “We believe in [The Observer’s] future, both in digital and as a multi-section newspaper published each and every Sunday.”
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, said she was confident that the deal was the best possible way forward for Observer journalists and readers.
“It is a model that will see investment in journalism and journalists, enshrines the Scott Trust's values in the Observer's future, and protects the Observer and Guardian's ability to continue to produce trusted, liberal journalism,” she said.
I predict that we will see more deals like this one. It brings together the young, vigorous, digital approach with the weighty reputation and old-school values of a printed newspaper. It is a worthy project and I hope it works.
Otherwise, what future for our trade?
*****
Late to the party again, but we have finally caught up with Wolf Hall, the wonderful BBC dramatisation of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy of novels about Henry VIII and his cunning and ruthless fixer, Thomas Cromwell.
It required some binge watching because we hadn’t seen the first series. I’m not generally a great fan of dramas involving historical figures whom I know. It’s like true crime… if you know whodunnit and how the victim died, what’s the point – where’s the tension and jeopardy?
But now here we are, waiting with a mixture of thrilling anticipation and dismay for the final episode. Dismay because I can hardly bear to acknowledge that it will be over.
The second series, called The Mirror and the Light, must be the last. The source material is all used up, Hilary Mantel has died and the protagonist, Cromwell, will meet his cruel fate some time after nine o’clock on Sunday evening.
It is one of the BBC’s greatest triumphs. I’m no historian, but Mantel was. And the screenwriter, Peter Straughan, the director, Peter Kosminsky, the production and the cast have remained faithful to her vision.
It is almost impossible to find anything wrong with the drama. The acting, particularly that of Sir Mark Rylance, who plays Cromwell, is astounding.
Rylance can present perfectly impassive features to the camera and, seemingly without moving a muscle, somehow convey loathing, fear, love, contempt or longing. He commands the screen and is surely our greatest living actor.
Opposite him, Damian Lewis makes a fine Henry. He captures the capricious despot in all his ugly moods: Murderous, narcissistic, wheedling and needy. And there are great supporting performances in the first series from Anton Lesser, as Thomas More; Claire Foy, as Anne Boleyn; and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey.
No expense was spared on the production – the first series reportedly cost £7 million – and the locations included some of the greatest Tudor buildings in England, among them Berkeley Castle, in Gloucestershire, Penshurst Place, in Kent and Wells Cathedral, in Somerset.
This is what the BBC excels at and it is also why I don’t resent the licence fee as much as some. Trouble is, what do we watch after Sunday night?
*****
Sub-editors are the magpies of journalism. We see something shiny in one of the rivals – a story, an intro, a headline – and we have to “borrow” it.
But surely the chaps at The Times are above all that? Especially when it comes to borrowing from the Daily Star. Perhaps not, it turns out.
Last week the Star wittily splashed on new evidence that Richard III had his young nephews – the Princes in the Tower – killed.
Headline: “We had a hunch Richard III was a real wrong ’un”.
The following day the TV review in The Times was all about the Channel 5 show that inspired the Star’s splash.
The Times’s headline: “Jason Watkins has a hunch about Richard III”.
Probably just coincidence, eh?
*****
“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything till noon. That’s when it’s time for my nap.” – Bob Hope
RICHARD DISMORE
10 December 2024
