Guardian Media Group

For the American media company, Guardian Enterprise Group, see .2 Network.
Guardian Media Group plc
Company typePublic
IndustryMedia
Founded1907; 117 years ago (1907) (Manchester Guardian)
1993 (1993) (Guardian Media Group plc)
FounderC. P. Scott
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
England, Wales
Key people
Anna Bateson (CEO)
Charles Gurassa (Chair)
ProductsNewspapers, websites
RevenueIncrease £264.4 million[1] (2022-23)
Decrease £-21.3 million[1] (2022-23)
OwnerScott Trust Limited
DivisionsGuardian News & Media
Top Right Group (formerly Emap)
GMG Property Services Group
Websitewww.theguardian.com/gmg

Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity.

The Group's annual report (for the year ending 2 April 2023) indicated that the Scott Trust Endowment Fund was valued at £1.24 billion, while in 2021 it was valued at £1.14 billion.[2]

History

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The company was founded as the Manchester Guardian Ltd. in 1907 when C.P. Scott bought The Manchester Guardian (founded in 1821)[3] from the estate of his cousin Edward Taylor.

It became the Manchester Guardian and Evening News Ltd when it bought out the Manchester Evening News in 1924, later becoming the Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd to reflect the change in the morning paper's title. It adopted its current name in 1993.

In 1991, it had a 20% stake in a consortium which included London Weekend Television, Scottish Television, The Walt Disney Company and Carlton Communications for a new ITV breakfast franchise called GMTV.

Guardian Monthly was a glossy magazine published by the Guardian Media Group for readers around the world.[4] Launched in November 2006,[5] it made selections from The Guardian and The Observer's magazine supplements available to an international audience of English-speakers.[6] Issues contained interviews with cultural figures, features about world issues, and regular articles on travel, books, sport, health, fashion, food and photography. In July 2007, the Guardian Media Group announced the cancellation of the Guardian Monthly.[7] In a letter to subscribers, Will Ricketts, Guardian Monthly's publisher, explained the reasons for the cancellation of the monthly magazine:

The company is taking a long-term strategic view of its activities and although Guardian Monthly has performed well in the busy and competitive international marketplace, we have decided that it is not the right time to continue with a global magazine offering.

In March 2007, GMG sold 49.9% of Trader Media Group to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued Trader Media Group at £1.35 billion. In December 2007, it was announced that GMG and Apax had made a successful bid to buy Emap's business-to-business arm for around £1 billion.[8]

In February 2010, the group sold its GMG Regional Media division (consisting of two companies MEN Media and S&B Media which operated 31 local and regional newspaper titles) to Trinity Mirror for £44.8 million. The sale eroded the connection between The Guardian and Manchester as the sale of the Manchester Evening News was included in the package.[9] The division's local television station for Greater Manchester, Channel M, and two newspapers in Woking were not included in the sale.

In June 2012, GMG sold its GMG Radio division, which operated Real Radio and Smooth Radio, to Global Radio.[10][11]

In January 2014, GMG disposed of its remaining interest in Trader Media Group.[12]

Carolyn McCall was the chief executive of Guardian Media Group and chair of Guardian News and Media Limited from 2006 until June 2010, when she was appointed chief executive of EasyJet.[13] Andrew Miller, previously the chief financial officer of the Group, was chief executive from July 2010 to 2015. David Pemsel took his place in 2015.[14]

In October 2017, the Guardian Media Group reported a plan to launch a new £42 million venture capital fund.[15] That plan was consummated, making the Scott Trust a limited partner in GMG Ventures LP. According to the GMG 2018 annual report, "this £42m venture capital fund is designed to contribute financial returns and to support GMG's strategy by investing in early stage businesses focused on developing the next generation of media technology".[2]


In August 2022, Anna Bateson was appointed as chief executive.[16] Subsequently Anders Jensen, chief executive of Viaplay, resigned as a GMG non-executive director because of the appointment process, in particular the level of influence exerted by Guardian editor Katharine Viner.[17]

Group structure

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GMG's core business is Guardian News & Media Limited, publisher of theguardian.com, and The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. Guardian News & Media was formed as Guardian Newspapers Limited in 1967, adopting its present name in 2006.

The group has a portfolio of investments to help support its journalism.[18] They comprise:

  • Ascential: an international business-to-business digital intelligence and events business.
  • An externally managed investment fund.

Guardian Media Group exists to support the core purpose of its owner, Scott Trust Limited: to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity,[19] but in the 2011/12 year the group lost £75.6 million,[20] and for the three years up to June 2012, the paper itself lost £100,000 a day - leading The Economist's Intelligent Life magazine to question whether The Guardian could survive.[21] In late 2013, GMG sold their GMG Property Services Group to private equity firm Lloyds Development Capital (rebranded to Property Software Group), citing that it would allow them to focus on investing in the core part of their business—Guardian News and Media.[22] In 2014, The Guardian launched a membership scheme, aiming to avoid introducing a paywall and maintaining open access to the website. As of 2018, this approach was considered successful, having brought more than 1 million subscriptions or donations, with the paper hoping to break even by April 2019,[23] a goal they achieved in May 2019.[24]

Controversies

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The Resignation of Alan Rusbridger

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Alan Rusbridger, the long-serving editor-in-chief of The Guardian and The Observer was due to become the chair of the Scott Trust. This was blocked by fellow members of the Guardian Media Group, Viner and Pemsel. Rusbridger had been scapegoated for the company losses. The Irish Times reported at the time: "In the end, Alan Rusbridger had little choice but to resile from becoming chair of the Scott Trust. Having been appointed in late 2014 to occupy one of the most powerful roles within Guardian Media Group this September, The Guardian's former editor had encountered fierce opposition. By Thursday evening, it looked inevitable. Although a meeting of the Scott Trust board had broken up without being able to decide on his future, enough of its members, including Katharine Viner, his successor as Guardian editor, and David Pemsel, GMG's chief executive, did not want him back as chair. He could either concede or trigger a damaging public battle."[25]

The Resignation of Andrew Miller

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Following the appointment of Katharine Viner, Andrew Miller resigned as CEO of the Guardian Media Group. The Financial Times reported on his resignation at the time: "In June last year, senior executives of Guardian Media Group gathered at the Club at the Ivy in London’s Soho to bid farewell to Andrew Miller, its chief executive, after a bumpy five-year tenure that seemed to have ended on a positive note...In his speech, Mr Miller alluded to the recently broadcast fifth season finale of HBO’s drama Game of Thrones, in which the bastard nobleman Jon Snow appears to be killed by his followers. “I feel like Jon Snow, stabbed in the back,” he said. There was an embarrassed pause as guests shuffled their feet." [26]

The Resignation of Annette Thomas

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The Guardian Media Group appointed its first black CEO in January 2020 and it was announced that Annette Thomas would become the new chief executive in March 2020.[27] Thomas was formerly editor of Nature, MD of Nature Publishing Group and chief executive of Macmillan Science and Education. She replaced David Pemsel who left to take up a role at the Premier League.[28]

In May 2021, The Daily Telegraph reported Guardian editor Katharine Viner and Thomas were in conflict over finances and the direction the newspaper should take. The previous year The Guardian announced 180 job cuts. Thomas had earlier said at a media industry conference "we have quality content in spades ... the job at hand is to now go further by strengthening the growing elements of our business". Viner wanted renewed investment after better than feared financial results in 2020.[29] On 9 June 2021, it was announced that Thomas would leave the Guardian Media Group at the end of the month, after only a year in the position.[30][31]

Sexual harassment and #MeToo

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In 2022, British journalist Lucy Siegle criticized The Guardian, the Guardian Media Group and the broader media for perpetuating an "omerta" — a code of silence — surrounding workplace harassment, particularly in their own institutions. Siegle, one of six women, who experienced sexual harassment by journalist Nick Cohen during her time at The Guardian, highlighted how media organizations often fail to properly address such misconduct. Barrister Jolyon Maugham KC echoed her concerns about the media's reluctance to examine and report on sexual harassment in their own institutions and called for this damaging silence to end: “The shameful, if mutually convenient, omerta on the reporting of sexual misconduct within the media sacrifices the careers and dignity of young women to the convenience of predatory older men. It must not continue”.[32] In May 2023, The New York Times reported that Roula Khalaf prevented the publishing of a Financial Times article covering sexual misconduct allegations against Nick Cohen.[33]

Lack of protections for whistleblowers

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Sarah Tisdall

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In 1983, the paper was at the centre of a controversy surrounding documents regarding the stationing of cruise missiles in Britain that were leaked to The Guardian by civil servant Sarah Tisdall. The paper eventually complied with a court order to hand over the documents to the authorities, which resulted in a six-month prison sentence for Tisdall,[34] though she served only four. "I still blame myself", said Peter Preston, who was the editor of The Guardian at the time, but he went on to argue that the paper had no choice because it "believed in the rule of law".[35] In a 2019 article discussing Julian Assange and the protection of sources by journalists, John Pilger criticised the editor of The Guardian for betraying Tisdall by choosing not to go to prison "on a fundamental principle of protecting a source".[36]

Julian Assange

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The Guardian published the US diplomatic cables files and the Guantanamo Bay files in collaboration with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.[37] When some of the diplomatic cables were made available online in unredacted form, WikiLeaks blamed Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding for publishing the encryption key to the files in their book WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy.[38] The Guardian blamed Assange for the release of the unredacted cables.[39]

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, a former contributor to The Guardian, accused The Guardian of publishing false claims about Assange in a report about an interview Assange gave to Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The Guardian article had claimed that Assange had praised Donald Trump and criticised Hillary Clinton and also alleged that Assange had "long had a close relationship with the Putin regime". Greenwald wrote: "This article is about how those [Guardian's] false claims—fabrications, really—were spread all over the internet by journalists, causing hundreds of thousands of people (if not millions) to consume false news".[40] The Guardian later amended its article about Assange to remove the claim about his connection to the Russian government.[41] While Assange was in the Ecuadorian embassy, The Guardian published a number of articles pushing the narrative that there was a link between Assange and the Russian government.[37]

In a November 2018 Guardian article, Luke Harding and Dan Collyns cited anonymous sources which stated that Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret meetings with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2013, 2015, and 2016.[42] The name of a third author, Fernando Villavicencio, was removed from the online version of the story soon after publication. The title of the story was originally 'Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy'. A few hours after publication, 'sources say' was added to the title, and the meeting became an 'apparent meeting'.[43] One reporter characterised the story, "If it's right, it might be the biggest get this year. If it's wrong, it might be the biggest gaffe." Manafort and Assange both said they had never met, with the latter threatening legal action against The Guardian.[44] Ecuador's London consul Fidel Narváez, who had worked at Ecuador's embassy in London from 2010 to July 2018, said that Manafort had not visited Assange.[43] Serge Halimi said Harding had a personal grievance against Assange and noted that Manafort's name does not appear in the Ecuadorian embassy's visitors' book and there were no pictures of Manafort entering or leaving "one of the most surveilled and filmed buildings on the planet".[43] The Guardian has neither retracted nor apologised for the story about the meeting. Stella Moris, Assange's wife, said The Guardian failed in its responsibility to Assange and its "negligence has created such a problem that if Julian dies or is extradited, that will forever blot the reputation of the Guardian".[37]

Allegations by Jacob Appelbaum

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Jacob Appelbaum alleged at the LoganCIJ16 at the Centre for Investigative Journalism, that The Guardian, The Observer and Guardian Media Group do not protect their sources.[45]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 2 April 2023" Archived 16 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine, Guardian Media Group
  2. ^ a b "Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) publishes 2021/22 statutory financial results". The Guardian. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Guardian Media Group PLC". Gmgplc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  4. ^ "Guardian to launch monthly mag". Press Gazette. 5 September 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Media choice: Guardian Monthly". Campaign. 29 November 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  6. ^ Armstrong, Murray (5 October 2006). "New Guardian Monthly mag to be launched". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  7. ^ Gazette, Press (30 July 2007). "Guardian Monthly ceases publication". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  8. ^ Mark Sweney (21 December 2007). "Emap confirms B2B sale to GMG and Apax". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Manchester Evening News sold by Guardian Media Group". Manchester Evening News. 9 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  10. ^ "Global Radio acquires GMG Radio". The Guardian. 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Ofcom and OFT to investigate £70m GMG Radio sale". Press Gazette. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Guardian Media Group to divest holding in Trader Media". The Guardian. gmgplc.co.uk. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  13. ^ Davies, Caroline (23 March 2010). "Guardian group chief executive Carolyn McCall to join easyJet". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  14. ^ Sweney, Mark (18 June 2015). "Guardian Media Group appoints David Pemsel as chief executive". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  15. ^ "The Guardian turns venture capitalist in hunt for new income". The Telegraph. 18 October 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  16. ^ Waterson, Jim (25 August 2022). "Guardian Media Group appoints Anna Bateson as chief executive". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  17. ^ Woods, Ben (23 September 2022). "Director of The Guardian quits in protest at 'imperial' editor's choice of chief executive". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Our investments | Guardian Media Group PLC". Gmgplc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  19. ^ "The Scott Trust - The Guardian". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-07-18. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  20. ^ "Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) announces full-year results for 2011/2012". the Guardian. 10 August 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  21. ^ "Can The Guardian Survive?". More Intelligent Life. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
  22. ^ "Private equity backing for £17.8m buyout of GMG group". 19 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  23. ^ Viner, Katharine (12 November 2018). "The Guardian's reader funding model is working. It's inspiring". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  24. ^ Viner, Katharine (1 May 2019). "The Guardian breaks even against the odds: we couldn't have done this without you". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Why Alan Rusbridger had no choice but to quit The Guardian – The Irish Times", irishtimes.com
  26. ^ "The Guardian: Dark days for a liberal beacon | Financial Times", archive.ph
  27. ^ Waterson, Jim (14 January 2020). "Guardian Media Group appoints new chief executive". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  28. ^ Mayhew, Freddy (14 January 2020). "Guardian group names scientist Annette Thomas as new chief executive". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  29. ^ Williams, Christopher (17 May 2021). "Guardian leaders clash over 'who calls the shots'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Chief executive Annette Thomas to leave Guardian Media Group". The Guardian. 9 June 2021. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  31. ^ Field, Matthew (9 June 2021). "Guardian boss steps down in wake of power struggle". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  32. ^ If The Guardian can behave like this, how much impact has #MeToo really had? Archived 2022-08-04 at archive.today, Time, August 4, 2022
  33. ^ Bradley, Jane (30 May 2023). "A British Reporter Had a Big #MeToo Scoop. Her Editor Killed It". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  34. ^ Routledge, Paul (16 January 1994). "Profile: Hunter of the truth: Lord justice Scott: With the Government rattled, Paul Routledge looks at the man John Major now has to face | Voices". The Independent. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  35. ^ Preston, Peter (5 September 2005). "A source of great regret". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  36. ^ Pilger, John (14 April 2019). "John Pilger: The Assange Arrest Is A Warning From History". New Matilda. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  37. ^ a b c Greenwood, Phoebe (21 June 2021). "Will the right save Julian Assange?". The Spectator World. Archived from the original on Feb 7, 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  38. ^ "WikiLeaks password 'leaked by journalists'". 9News. AAP. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  39. ^ "Anger as Wikileaks releases all US cables unredacted". BBC News. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  40. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (29 December 2016). "The Guardian's Summary of Julian Assange's Interview Went Viral and Was Completely False". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  41. ^ Jacobs, Ben (24 December 2016). "Julian Assange gives guarded praise of Trump and blasts Clinton in interview". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  42. ^ Harding, Luke; Collyns, Dan (27 November 2018). "Manafort held secret talks with Assange in Ecuadorian embassy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018.
  43. ^ a b c Halimi, Serge (1 January 2019). "The Guardian's fake scoop". Le Monde diplomatique. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  44. ^ Pompeo, Joe (27 November 2018). ""It Might Be the Biggest Get This Year": How The Guardian's Bombshell Set Off Its Own Little Media World War". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  45. ^ "LoganCIJ16: Reports from the Front". YouTube. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
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