Observer fate will be known by autumn as losses mount
The fate of The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, could be revealed within months, as parent company Guardian Media Group (GMG) mulls ways to control its losses.
GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall has confirmed in an internal email that the closure of the 218-year old weekly is an option that a panel of senior executives are considering as part of a “thorough review” of all Guardian News & Media’s (GNM) operations to secure its future.
McCall said that GNM editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger and the managing director, Tim Brooks, “have both flagged that they will talk to staff about this in the autumn, when the initial work will be complete”.
The note to staff was sent in response to reports that GMG had revisited plans, first touted in 2004, to close the Sunday paper and replace it with a mid-week news magazine.
“We should not be surprised when commercial rivals seek to damage us, fail to give the full picture or speculate about our future,” continued McCall, in a dig at the national newspapers which reported the story.
Last month, GMG posted a full-year pre-tax loss of £90m, of which national newspaper group GNM contributed £36.8m. Analysts believe The Observer could be losing as much as £10m a year.