UK cultural stars join revolt over Observer sale | Journalists pave way for strike
And Reach CEO Jim Mullen offers a deal to the UK government which would see more local reporters on the beat
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Observer staff have manned the barricades and are practically singing the Marseillaise in protest at the planned takeover of their title by Tortoise Media.
On the face of it, the prospect of turning The Observer from a declining Sunday newspaper into a well-resourced independent title with its own website and separate paywalled income looks like an exciting one for the UK news market.
But staff are utterly unconvinced that Tortoise Media will give them the security and support they currently enjoy as part of Guardian Media Group.
The 70 Observer journalists are one thing. But The Guardian-owning Scott Trust is now facing a full-on revolt from the entire editorial workforce, who voted yesterday to put strike action on the table.
Worryingly for Tortoise Media, 75 leading UK cultural figures ranging from actor Toby Jones to broadcaster Carol Vorderman have signed an open letter (published exclusively in Press Gazette) decrying the proposed sale as a "disastrous betrayal".
No one would doubt the journalistic chops of Tortoise founder James Harding. But if the deal is to be salvaged he will need to provide Observer staff and supporters with cast iron guarantees around financing, editorial quality and job security.
Today we also have an interview with Reach CEO Jim Mullen in which he offers an intriguing deal to the UK government which could see the regional press giant grow its local reporting teams. He also explains why Reach won't be following CNN and Mail Online into the land of paywalls, and reveals why his websites contain so many ads.
And GB News has taken Ofcom to the High Court in an attempt to block it from sanctioning the channel. The channel believes it is being punished unfairly by the watchdog. We expect to have news on whether the challenge has been successful by around lunchtime today.
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On Press Gazette
Leading cultural figures attack Observer sale as staff pave way for strike action
More than 70 leading UK cultural figures decry Observer sale as "a betrayal" of liberal journalism.
Reach CEO Jim Mullen: If government advertises with us, we’ll employ more reporters
Jim Mullen asks "why is the BBC doing brownie recipes?" and reveals plan to reduce online ads load.
GB News asks High Court to block Ofcom sanctions for alleged rules breach
Tom Hickman KC, for the channel, said: “We say that by launching an investigation within three days, Ofcom failed to provide GB News a reasonable and fair opportunity to comply with [Ofcom’s rules].”
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News in brief
Michael Jermey is leaving ITV after 16 years as director of news and current affairs. (Press Gazette)
Future-owned Total Film magazine is closing its print edition after 27 years amid a shutdown by the publisher of multiple "low to no growth assets". (Press Gazette)
About 75 people are being laid off at ABC News, split equally between its US national and local news operations. (Press Gazette)
An LSE researcher is looking for UK journalists who have been made redundant (including voluntary redundancy) in the past 12 months to take part in confidential/anonymous interviews. Find out more here.
Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst Magazines, USA Today Network, and the FT are signed up to get paid for the use of their content in Microsoft's Copilot Daily, which will give users a spoken summary of the news and weather. (Tech Crunch)
Global revenue at Wired is up 6% in the past year with commerce revenue up 35%. July was said to have been its "most highly trafficked month in five years". (Adweek)
Conde Nast has appointed Luke Robins as chief business officer UK to lead transformation and revenue growth. He joined the company earlier this year as UK head of industry - fashion, luxury and beauty. (Business of Fashion)