By: E&P Staff Reports from London put the world's oldest Sunday newspaper once again on its deathbed. According to The Times and The Independent, The Observer may be closed by its latest owner, Scott Trust, whose members met over the weekend to discuss the 218-year-old paper's fate. A decision was postponed in the face of some members' opposition.
The meeting followed Friday's report by Scott Trust's Guardian Media Group that it lost just short of 90 million pounds in the past year. GMG acquired the Observer in 1993 and operates the newspaper, with the Guardian, as part of its Guardian News & Media. Accounting for well over a third of GMG's loss, GNM's loss was more than 10 million pounds greater than the previous year.
British press accounts have GMG considering an already-dummied weekly "Observer" magazine as a sort of replacement, and a thinner daily Observer as a possible alternative. A "senior source" at the Observer told the Times that chances for either are about 50-50.
Independent News & Media's
Independent made sure to note that Guardian and Observer Editor-in-Chief Alan Rusbridger received an 11% raise (to 445,000 pounds) last year, and that the Guardian aims to become "the world's strongest online 'liberal' brand, spending heavily on developing its presence in the U.S."
News International's
Times reported that "although GMG does not disclose the results of individual newspapers, The Observer is thought to have lost 10-20 million pounds a year in recent years, and not to have made a profit since it was bought by The Guardian."
Trust members declined to comment on plans for the Observer, according to the Times.
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