Offering to invest around £25 million over the next five years in the “editorial and commercial renewal” of the Observer, Tortoise has reached out to Guardian Media Group (GMG).
James Harding, a former editor of the Times newspaper and head of News, founded Tortoise five years ago.
According to The Guardian, the title will continue to run digitally seven days a week, irrespective of how discussions over the Observer with Tortoise turn out.
The investment will “help to safeguard its future” as a stand-alone product, the team of Observer was informed.
While MG is investigating the feasibility of the Tortoise plan, it is not actively attempting to sell the Observer.
With a workforce of about 70, the Observer is the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, having been founded in 1791.
Tortoise editor Harding stated, “We believe passionately in its future – both in print and digital.”
“The Observer has been dubbed ‘the enemy of nonsense’ by George Orwell,” he continued. We can’t wait to prove to both returning and new readers that it still is.”
Until 1948, Orwell contributed articles to the publication both during and after World War II.
Kim Philby, a former MI6 officer and Soviet spy who had been operating on behalf of the Russians since the early 1930s, was another source.
