The chair of The Guardian’s mum or dad firm has insisted that it’s going to stay a part-owner of The Observer hours earlier than workers stroll out over the sale of the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.
Sky Information has obtained a memo despatched on Tuesday afternoon by Ole Jacob Sunde, chair of the Scott Belief, pledging that The Observer can be ruled by a “mature board construction” if the take care of Tortoise Media goes forward.
In it, he stated the transaction must meet 5 standards for it to be accepted by the Scott Belief board, together with for it “to remain on as a part-owner of The Observer”.
Studies on the weekend steered that it will take a small stake in Tortoise itself to fulfil that requirement.
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Mr Sunde additionally stated that The Observer would wish to have “safe and sustainable long-term funding”; different house owners of the 233-year-old Sunday title would have “to take a long-term view of their funding”; and all house owners must “embody the values of editorial independence, press freedoms and liberal journalism which were a part of the Observer’s ethos since we purchased it in 1993”.
He added that the newspaper would wish to “ruled by a mature board construction, with a task for the Scott Belief on the Tortoise Media editorial and industrial boards”.
His message got here earlier than scores of Guardian workers are anticipated to strike for the primary time in a long time in protest on the sale.
On Monday, Sky Information revealed that Observer workers who transfer with the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper to Tortoise Media will probably be supplied continued access to Guardian job openings as a part of a last-ditch compromise deal.
Anna Bateson, the Guardian Media Group (GMG) chief government who’s coming below more and more intense criticism over the deal, stated that journalists who didn’t want to switch to Tortoise Media can be supplied a “time-limited” voluntary redundancy scheme.
She stated that “enhanced redundancy phrases can be maintained post-transfer for a interval nonetheless being negotiated”.
Final week, Dale Vince, the eco-entrepreneur, confirmed he can be eager about investing in The Observer if the sale to Tortoise Media fell by way of.
Final month, Sky Information revealed that the Scott Belief would proceed to personal a stake in The Observer if the deal went by way of.
The primary in a sequence of two-day strikes is because of start on Wednesday, with some division heads who’re union members stated to really feel conflicted over the strike motion.
Ms Bateson insisted: “Our precedence has all the time been to protect the Observer’s 233-year legacy and make sure the proposed settlement is as robust as it may be for workers, readers and the way forward for liberal journalism.”
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Tortoise, which was co-founded by the previous Instances editor James Harding, has pledged to retain the newspaper’s concentrate on areas similar to the humanities and tradition, and stated it will make investments £25m in it over a five-year interval.
Nonetheless, that pledge has already been examined by the resignation of Jay Rayner, The Observer’s long-serving restaurant critic.
A Scott Belief spokesperson declined to remark.
