UK's Guardian in talks to sell the Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media
The Guardian is in talks to sell the Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media, Sky News reports.
The deal would see Tortoise Media, a membership-funded news organisation, take over the 233-year-old Observer, which is one of the UK's oldest and most respected newspapers. The Observer has been owned by the Guardian since 1993, when it was bought for £120m.
The sale of the Observer would be a significant move for the Guardian, which has been struggling financially in recent years. The newspaper has been hit by the decline in print advertising revenue, and has been forced to make significant job cuts. The Guardian has also been investing heavily in its digital operations, but it is still not clear whether it will be able to make up for the lost revenue from print.
Tortoise Media was founded in 2019 by James Harding, the former editor of the Times. The organisation is funded by membership fees, and it produces in-depth, slow-news journalism. Tortoise Media has been praised for its high-quality journalism, but it is not clear whether it has the resources to take on a newspaper like the Observer.
The sale of the Observer would be a major coup for Tortoise Media. It would give the organisation a significant presence in the UK newspaper market, and it would allow it to expand its reach to a wider audience. However, the deal would also be a risk for Tortoise Media. The Observer is a loss-making newspaper, and it is not clear whether Tortoise Media will be able to turn it around.
The Guardian and Tortoise Media have declined to comment on the reports.
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