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Nearly 500 journalists are on strike at the #Guardian and its sister paper, the Sunday-only #Observer, to protest the planned sale of the Observer to a small digital startup.

"We believe it's a total betrayal of the Guardian's values and promises that it's made," says #Carole #Cadwalladr, an investigative reporter and feature writer for the Observer.

"The sale of the Observer to a loss-making startup is potentially the death of this historic brand."

The strike, which started Wednesday, is expected to last for two days this week and restart for a couple more days next week.

Cadwalldr says the strike is intended to convince the Observer's owner to slow down a process that the paper's union says is sprinting to a preordained conclusion.

She says colleagues believe other suitors could emerge if further review shows the Guardian should divest itself of the Sunday paper.

The Observer is a storied liberal title whose first issue came out on this date in 1791.

It is believed to be the world's oldest Sunday paper.

Its famous journalists include George Orwell. And it was central to the launch of the human rights group Amnesty International.

The buyer is #Tortoise #Media, a well-regarded but small news outlet founded in 2019
and led by #James #Harding, the former director of BBC News and editor of The Times of London.

Its tagline is "slow down, wise up."

It promises to delve into what's driving the news rather than simply post the latest headlines.

It has not yet turned a profit but has deep-pocketed backers,
including the investment arm of the Thomson family that controls Reuters and owns the Globe and Mail newspaper in Canada.
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/04/nx-s1-5213914/guardian-strike-observer-sale