The Observer is a British
newspaper, published on Sundays. In about the same
place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper
The Guardian, which acquired
it in 1993, it takes a
left-liberal or
social democratic line on most issues. It
is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
History
The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, was
the world's first Sunday newspaper.
Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead
soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. In 1794, 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 agreed to subsidise it in return for influence
over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a
strong line against radicals such as
Thomas
Paine,
Francis Burdett, and
Joseph Priestley.
In 1807, the brothers decided to relinquish editorial control,
naming
Lewis Doxat as the new editor.
Seven years later, the brothers sold
The Observer to
William Innell Clement, a
newspaper proprietor who already owned a number of publications.
Though the
paper continued to receive government subsidies, it criticised the
authorities' handling of the events surrounding the Peterloo
Massacre
and 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. The
woodcut pictures
published of the stable and hayloft where the conspirators were
arrested reflected a new stage of illustrated journalism that the
newspaper pioneered during this time.
Clement maintained ownership of
The Observer until his
death in 1852. During that time, the paper supported
parliamentary reform, but opposed a broader
franchise and the
Chartist leadership.
After Doxat retired in 1857, Clement's heirs sold the paper to
Joseph Snowe, who also took over the
editor's chair. Under Snowe, the paper adopted a more liberal
political stance, supporting the North during the
American Civil War and endorsing
universal manhood suffrage in 1866. These positions contributed to
a decline in circulation during this time.
In 1870 wealthy businessman Julius Beer bought the paper and
appointed
Edward Dicey as editor, whose
efforts succeeded in reviving circulation. Though Beer's son
Frederick became the owner upon Julius's death in 1880, he had
little interest in the newspaper and was content to leave Dicey as
editor until 1889. Henry Duff Traill took over the editorship after
Dicey's departure, only to be replaced in 1891 by Frederick's wife,
Rachel. Though circulation declined during her tenure, she remained
as editor for thirteen years, combining it in 1893 with the
editorship of
The Sunday
Times.
Upon Frederick's death in 1905, the paper was purchased by the
newspaper magnate
Lord
Northcliffe. After maintaining the existing editorial
leadership for a couple of years, in 1908 Northcliffe named
J. L. Garvin as editor. Garvin quickly turned
the paper into an organ of political influence, boosting
circulation from 5,000 to 40,000 within a year of his arrival as a
result. Yet the revival in the paper's fortunes masked growing
political disagreements between Garvin and Northcliffe. These
disagreements ultimately led Northcliffe to sell the paper to
William
Waldorf Astor in 1911, who transferred ownership to his son
Waldorf four years
later.
During this period, the Astors were content to leave the control of
the paper in Garvin's hands. Under his editorship,
The
Observer pioneered the concept of the modern quality Sunday
newspaper. Circulation reached 200,000 during the interwar years,
one which Garvin fought to maintain even during the depths of the
Great
Depression. Politically the paper pursued independent
Tory stance, one that eventually
brought Garvin into conflict with Waldorf's more liberal son,
David. Their conflict ultimately
contributed to Garvin's departure as editor in 1942, after which
the paper took the unusual step of declaring itself
non-partisan.
Ownership passed to Waldorf's sons in 1948, with David taking over
as editor. He remained in the position for 27 years, during which
time he turned it 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.
On 27 February 2005
The Observer Blog 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 used to come 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.
The Observer followed its daily partner
The Guardian and converted to '
Berliner' format on Sunday 8 January
2006.
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.
On 24 October 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.
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.
Supplements and features
News, Sport, Business & Media, Review, Escape,
The Observer Magazine and various
special intrest monly's, such as Food and Women's monthly
magazines.
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 1791 to 2000 for
The Observer and 1821 to
2000 for
The Guardian. These archives will eventually go
up to 2003.
Editors
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.
See also
References
-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8184667.stm
- Observer text timeline
- A brief history of The Observer
- Iraqi colonel admits Bazoft not a spy, accessed
4 April 2007
- Observer blog, accessed 27 February 2007
- Observer announces relaunch date, accessed 27
February 2007
- The archive - summary of holdings, accessed 27
February 2007
- First published by Andre Deutsch (London) in 1990 with an ISBN
0 233 98735 5
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