Scott Trust says ‘talks continue to progress’ over Observer sale to Tortoise
The Guardian-owning Scott Trust appears to be pressing ahead with plans to sell The Observer to Tortoise Media.
The 12-person board of the Trust, which is a non-profit-making company, met on Monday 25 November to discuss a bid made by Tortoise Media to acquire The Observer.
Tortoise has funding of £20m to invest in turning the Observer into a standalone newspaper with a paywalled website.
Following yesterday’s all-day meeting of the Trust a spokesperson said: “Today the Scott Trust met to discuss the potential sale of the Observer and the proposed terms.
“Talks continue to progress and there are a few outstanding points. All parties will continue detailed discussions to ensure the proposed agreement is the best it can be for staff, readers and the future of liberal journalism.”
The Trust has said it may keep a stake in The Observer after its sale to Tortoise and the Financial Times has reported that it may also offer additional investment in the new Tortoise/Observer business.
The ongoing talks mean strike action in protest at the Observer-Tortoise deal is still set to go ahead with the first 48-hour strike from Guardian and Observer journalists set to take place on Wednesday 4 December.
These include: “Why is the sale of The Observer being discussed only with one preferred bidder instead of through an open, transparent and fair process?”
And: “What is the Scott Trust’s responsibility if this [the Tortoise Media] plan fails?”
The 70 Observer journalists who would transfer across to Tortoise have concerns about job security and editorial independence.
Tortoise Media said yesterday: “We want to save The Observer, both for today’s readers and the generation to come. We have heard from a lot of Observer journalists who are excited about our ambition for the paper – and the people we bring with digital skills in podcasts, data journalism and newsletters, the investment that means new staff jobs, a much bigger editorial budget and a real plan for growth.
“We believe we can strengthen liberal journalism, adding to the range and reach of progressive voices; we can enable The Observer to reach new readers, as a Sunday newspaper with a digital life of its own; and we can renew the paper as a powerful voice in the world.”
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.