The Observer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Weekly newspaper |
| Format | Berliner (ex-Broadsheet) |
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| Owner | Guardian Media Group |
| Editor | John Mulholland |
| Founded | 1791 |
| Political allegiance | Centre Left |
| Price | GBP 1.90 |
| Headquarters | Farringdon, London |
| Circulation | 454,374[1] |
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| Website: observer.guardian.co.uk | |
The Observer is a British newspaper published on Sundays. Overall slightly to the right of its daily sister paper The Guardian, it takes a liberal/social democratic line on most issues.
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[edit] History
The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W. S. Bourne, was the world's first Sunday newspaper.
Faced with debts of nearly £1,600 Bourne attempted to sell The Observer to anti-government based groups in London. When this failed Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper – but it agreed to subsidise The Observer in return for influence over its editorial content.
William Innell Clement bought The Observer in 1814 to add to the number of newspapers he already owned. Clement defied an 1820 court order against publishing details of the trial of the Cato Street Conspirators who were alleged to have plotted to murder members of the Cabinet. Clement's editor, Lewis Doxat, went big with the story, using wood cut illustrations to promote it.
In 1857 Doxat retired and Joseph Snowe took over the editor's chair. Under Snowe, the paper's circulation declined rapidly, partly as a result of its siding with the North during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865.[2]
In 1870 wealthy businessman Julius Beer bought the paper and appointed Edward Dicey as editor, replacing him in 1889 with Henry Duff Traill. When Beer died in 1891, the paper passed to his son Frederick, whose wife Rachel became editor between 1891 and 1904 also edited The Sunday Times, which she had bought in 1893.[3]
In 1911, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (1848-1919) purchased The Observer from the Harmsworth family. It remained a Tory paper, as it had always been, until 1942, with the end of the 34-year editorship of J. L. Garvin. Garvin had written in a 1919 leading article that the Treaty of Versailles, which followed the end of World War I 'left the Germans "no real hope except in revenge"'.[2] After his time, the paper declared itself non-partisan, an unusual stance for the time.
Ownership passed to the 2nd Viscount, Waldorf Astor, who in turn passed it on in 1948 to his sons, one of whom, David Astor (1912-2001), would be the paper's editor for 27 years. David Astor turned the paper into a trust-owned newspaper employing, among others, George Orwell; other journalists strongly associated with it included Paul Jennings and C. A. Lejeune. Under Astor's editorship the Observer became the first national newspaper to oppose the government's 1956 invasion of Suez, a move which cost it many readers. In 1977, the Astors sold the ailing newspaper to US oil giant Atlantic Richfield (now called ARCO) who sold it to Lonrho plc in 1981. Since June 1993, it has been part of the Guardian Media Group.
In 1990 Farzad Bazoft, a journalist for the Observer, was executed in Iraq on charges of spying, which are disputed by many.[4]
On 27 February 2005 The Observer Blog[5] was launched, making The Observer the first newspaper to purposely document its own internal decisions, as well as the first newspaper to podcast. The paper's regular columnists include Andrew Rawnsley and Nick Cohen.
Each issue comes with a different free monthly magazine focusing, in rotation, on Sport, Music, Women and Food. These magazines have the titles Observer Sport Monthly, Observer Music Monthly, Observer Woman and Observer Food Monthly. In addition to the rotating magazines there is the Observer Magazine which is present every Sunday.
Content from The Observer is included in the Guardian Weekly for an international readership, and articles from the magazines combine with Guardian magazine articles in the Guardian Monthly magazine. The Observer is also linked to personal finance and investment magazine Money Observer, which originally started as a supplement in The Observer before launching as a stand alone magazine in 1979.
The Observer followed its daily partner The Guardian and converted to 'Berliner' format on Sunday 8 January 2006[6],[7]
The Observer was National Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards 2007
Whitehall Editor Jo Revill had, as Health Editor, been named Medical Journalist of the Year in 2000 and 2006 by two different organisations, when she was Health Editor.[citation needed]
On October 24th 2007 it was announced that editor Roger Alton was stepping down at the end of the year to be replaced by his deputy, John Mulholland.[8]
Recently there has been a well publicised feud between the Observer and the Guardian, due to the latter taking an editorial line against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, while the Observer has largely been in favour of the invasion, taking the view that spreading liberal democracy is a 'left-liberal' cause.
[edit] The Newsroom
The Observer and its sister newspaper The Guardian operate a visitor centre in London called The Newsroom. It contains their archives, including bound copies of old editions, a photographic library and other items such as diaries, letters and notebooks. This material may be consulted by members of the public. The Newsroom also mounts temporary exhibitions and runs an educational program for schools.
In November 2007 The Observer and The Guardian made their archives available over the internet via DigitalArchive. The current extent of the archives available are 1900 to 1975 for The Observer and 1821 to 1975 for The Guardian. However, these archives are to be expanded in the future.
[edit] Editors
- W. S. Bourne & W. H. Bourne (1791–early 19th century)
- Vincent George Dowling (early 19th century)
- Lewis Doxat (c. 1850–1857)
- Joseph Snowe (1857–1870)
- Edward Dicey (1870–1889)
- Henry Duff Traill (1889–1891)
- Rachel Beer (1891–1904)
- Austin Harrison (1904–1908)
- James Louis Garvin (1908–1942)
- Ivor Brown (1942–1948)
- David Astor (1948–1975)
- Donald Trelford (1975–1993)
- Jonathan Fenby (1993–1995)
- Andrew Jaspan (1995–1996)
- Will Hutton (1996–1998)
- Roger Alton (1998–2007)
- John Mulholland (2008–)
[edit] Bibliography
- David Astor and The Observer by Richard Cockett. Has endpapers which are facsimiles of The Observer, with other black and white photographic plates of personnel linked to The Observer. 294 pages with an index. [9]
[edit] See also
- Anthony Howard
- Cambridge Apostles
- Observer Mace debating competition - now known as the John Smith Memorial Mace
[edit] References
- ^ ABC Circulation Figures. Audit Bureau of Circulation. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
- ^ a b Observer text timeline
- ^ A brief history of The Observer
- ^ Iraqi colonel admits Bazoft not a spy, accessed April 4, 2007
- ^ Observer blog, accessed February 27, 2007
- ^ Observer announces relaunch date, accessed February 27, 2007
- ^ The archive - summary of holdings, accessed February 27, 2007
- ^ Stephen Brook. "Mulholland reshapes Observer team", The Guardian, 3 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ First published by Andre Deutsch (London) in 1990 with an ISBN 0 233 98735 5
[edit] External links
- Observer website
- Information about The Newsroom Archive and Visitor Centre
- DigitalArchive paid-for service
- History of Guardian Media Group 1990 - 1999, Guardian Media Group website; as of March 2, 2003; [1] (link requires Flash to view timeline)
- History of the Observer
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