Tortoise Media is a British news website co-founded in 2018 by both James Harding, a former Director of BBC News and a former editor of The Times, and Matthew Barzun, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.[1][2][3] Tortoise produces podcasts and holds live discussion events called "ThinkIns" and "Discussion Lates" in the London area.[4] It is part of the slow journalism movement.[5] It purchased The Observer in December 2024[6] with the transfer taking place on 22 April 2025.[7]
Tortoise Media was announced on Kickstarter in 2018, where it raised more than £500,000. Permanent invitations to ThinkIns and Discussion Lates were part of higher-tier Kickstarter reward packages. It also received private investment.[1] Its website went live in April 2019.[8]
Writing for The Guardian in 2018, Emily Bell said that Tortoise drew from ideas tried by The Guardian, Axios, Vox and Quartz. She said there was a trend of increased involvement of private wealth in the journalism industry, comparing Tortoise and its wealthy, well-connected founders and backers to Marc Benioff's purchase of Time and Jeff Bezos's purchase of The Washington Post. She also said that Tortoise's financial strength allowed it to attract high-profile journalists.[1] The company received the Innovation of the Year award from the British Journalism Awards in 2019.[9]
In September 2024 it was reported that Tortoise had approached the Guardian Media Group—proprietor of The Guardian and The Observer—with an offer to purchase The Observer for an undisclosed price.[10] Guardian and Observer journalists voted to strike on 4 and 5 December 2024 in protest over a sale that they said would betray the commitment of the Scott Trust—owner of the Guardian Media Group—to the Observer.[11]
As the strike was taking place, the Scott Trust agreed to go through with the sale,[12] which occurred later that month.[6]
  | This United Kingdom newspaper–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This website-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
general
This is the start of the #general chat. #general is a chat channel to discuss anything related to the hub.
