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Journalists at the Guardian and Observer have voted overwhelmingly to strike over the proposed sale of the Sunday newspaper to digital media start-up Tortoise.
More than nine in ten staff at the Guardian Media Group (GMG) said they would vote in favour of strike action over the proposed sale, in the results of a ballot on Tuesday evening seen by the Financial Times.
The decision was widely expected, given the strength of anger among Observer staff over the attempt by their bosses to sell the newspaper to Tortoise, which was founded in 2018 by veteran British editor James Harding.
It will raise questions over whether the sale to the lossmaking digital start-up will proceed, with the newspaper’s union due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the next steps of the industrial action.
Harding — who was the former editor of the Times and news chief of the BBC, as well as a former editor at the FT — has promised to invest about £25mn in the future of the Observer if the deal goes ahead.
He wants to keep the Sunday print newspaper and expand in areas such as sports, business and culture, while creating an online media platform behind a paywall and integrated into Tortoise’s digital, podcast and events teams. Harding has also promised to keep the Observer’s 70 staff.
Both the Guardian and the Observer are owned by the £1.3bn Scott Trust and published by GMG. The group’s management has said it is under no obligation to protect the Observer, as it does with the Guardian.
In a memo sent to staff last week seen by the FT, the management said that Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, had committed to a strategic audit of the Observer, which “would involve some difficult choices and that would need to happen urgently” if the newspaper was not sold to Tortoise.
The board of GMG has had at least two anonymous approaches promising rival offers, according to people familiar with the situation. However, those people cautioned that there was a lack of detail over names, funding or plans. Observer staff have also discussed coming up with their own plans for the future of the newspaper.
A Guardian spokesperson said it would continue talks with the National Union of Journalists. “We know that potential change is unsettling and appreciate that NUJ members wish to make their views heard. Our priority is to do what is right for the Guardian and the Observer so that both titles continue to promote liberal journalism and thrive in a challenging media environment.”
