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MPs object to Observer transfer
MEMBERS of the UK parliament are opposing the transfer of the Observer to Tortoise Media. The full text of Early Day Motion 546 resolves:
That this House expresses serious concerns about the speed of the process and the substantive issues at stake in relation to the proposed sale of the Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media; considers that The Observer, first published in 1791, is a historical national institution known as a source of quality journalism which must be protected for future generations; believes that the deal appears to be being rushed through, without due consideration of alternatives; regrets that the Guardian Media Group and the Scott Trust have not engaged in meaningful consultation with journalistic and editorial staff; condemns the decision to announce in principle support for the sale during the first industrial action taken by members of the National Union of Journalists at the Guardian/Observer for over fifty years called in response to concerns at the deal; believes that the disappearance of Observer content behind an online paywall would be detrimental to the public interest by restricting access to accurate news and a plurality of opinions; and therefore calls on Government to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice, to allow for further regulatory consideration of the sale’s likely impact.
...and breathe. (Apparently there is a convention that an EDM should be one sentence.)
At the time of writing 19 MPs had signed. Please check whether your MP is among them; congratulate them if so; and encourage them to join if not. The editor's MP is a junior minister, so is unlikely to sign: so we are encouraging her to have a word with backbench colleagues.
Ths follows many other expressions of support for Guardian and Observer journalists...
Back in October, more than 70 leading UK cultural figures sent an open letter to the Press Gazzette. Ranging from Joan Bakewell to Jarvis Cocker and from Mary Beard to Carol Vorderman, they concluded: "We call on Guardian Media Group and the Scott Trust to reject this ill-considered offer at once, and to retain the Observer as a key element of its seven-day print and online operation. Failure to do so would be a betrayal of the Observer, its staff and its readers."
In November six former editors urged the Scott Trust not to "gamble" with the future of the Observer
On 12 December 2024 the Press Gazzette reported that a leaked email "reveals Guardian refusal to talk to potential bidder".
Then on 18 December Sky News reported that "Ecotricity founder Dale Vince made a fresh bid... to prevent the world's oldest Sunday newspaper from falling into Tortoise Media's hands," and was rebuffed. That was the day it was announced that the deal was sealed - hours before the end of the second strike by joournalista.
Sale of the Observer newspaper EDM 546, parlament.uk
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