The Observer

The Observer is a United Kingdom 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.

History

The first issue (published on 4 December 1791), was the world's first Sunday newspaper.

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. After his time, it 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 the likes of 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 [1] 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.

The Observer followed its daily partner The Guardian converted to 'Berliner' format on Sunday 8 January 2006 [2]. [3]

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 programme for schools.

Editors

• Rachel Beer (1890 – 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 – )

See also

• Anthony Howard
• Cambridge Apostles
• Nick Cohen
• Observer Mace debating competition - now known as the John Smith Memorial Mace

External links

• Observer website
• Information about The Newsroom Archive and Visitor Centre
• Article in the Observer about Wikipedia
• History of Guardian Media Group 1990 - 1999, Guardian Media Group website; as of March 2, 2003; [4] (link requires Flash to view timeline)
• History of the Observer