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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders.

The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main newsprint sections have been published in tabloid format. As of February 2020, its print edition had a daily circulation of 126,879. The newspaper has an online edition, TheGuardian.com, as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia (founded in 2013) and Guardian US (founded in 2011). The paper's readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion, and its reputation as a platform for social liberal and left-wing editorial has led to the use of the "Guardian reader" and "Guardianista" as often-pejorative epithets for those of left-leaning or "politically correct" tendencies. Frequent typographical errors during the age of manual typesetting led Private Eye magazine to dub the paper the "Grauniad" in the 1960s, a nickname still used occasionally by the editors for self-mockery.

In an Ipsos MORI research poll in September 2018 designed to interrogate the public's trust of specific titles online, The Guardian scored highest for digital-content news, with 84% of readers agreeing that they "trust what [they] see in it". A December 2018 report of a poll by the Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCo) stated that the paper's print edition was found to be the most trusted in the UK in the period from October 2017 to September 2018. It was also reported to be the most-read of the UK's "quality newsbrands", including digital editions; other "quality" brands included The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and the i. While The Guardian's print circulation is in decline, the report indicated that news from The Guardian, including that reported online, reaches more than 23 million UK adults each month.

Chief among the notable "scoops" obtained by the paper was the 2011 News International phone-hacking scandal—and in particular the hacking of the murdered English teenager Milly Dowler's phone. The investigation led to the closure of the News of the World, the UK's best-selling Sunday newspaper and one of the highest-circulation newspapers in history. In June 2013, The Guardian broke news of the secret collection by the Obama administration of Verizon telephone records, and subsequently revealed the existence of the surveillance program PRISM after knowledge of it was leaked to the paper by the whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. In 2016, The Guardian led an investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing then–Prime Minister David Cameron's links to offshore bank accounts. It has been named "newspaper of the year" four times at the annual British Press Awards: most recently in 2014, for its reporting on government surveillance.

The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle, a group of non-conformist businessmen. At that time The Guardian was a weekly, published on Saturdays and costing 7d; the stamp duty on newspapers (4d per sheet) forced the price up so high that it was uneconomic to publish more frequently. When the stamp duty was cut in 1836, The Guardian added a Wednesday edition and with the abolition of the tax in 1855 it became a daily paper costing 2d.

In October 1952, the paper took the step of printing news on the front page, replacing the adverts that had hitherto filled that space. Then-editor A. P. Wadsworth wrote: "It is not a thing I like myself, but it seems to be accepted by all the newspaper pundits that it is preferable to be in fashion."

In 1959, the paper dropped "Manchester" from its title, becoming simply The Guardian, and in 1964 it moved to London, losing some of its regional agenda but continuing to be heavily subsidised by sales of the more downmarket but more profitable Manchester Evening News. The financial position remained extremely poor into the 1970s; at one time it was in merger talks with The Times. The paper consolidated its centre-left stance during the 1970s and 1980s. It was both shocked and revitalised by the launch of The Independent in 1986 which competed for a similar readership and provoked the entire broadsheet industry into a fight for circulation.

On 12 February 1988, The Guardian had a significant redesign; as well as improving the quality of its printers' ink, it also changed its masthead to a juxtaposition of an italic Garamond "The", with a bold Helvetica "Guardian", that remained in use until the 2005 redesign.

In 1992, The Guardian relaunched its features section as G2, a tabloid-format supplement. This innovation was widely copied by the other "quality" broadsheets and ultimately led to the rise of "compact" papers and The Guardian's move to the Berliner format. In 1993 the paper declined to participate in the broadsheet price war started by Rupert Murdoch's The Times. In June 1993, The Guardian bought The Observer from Lonrho, thus gaining a serious Sunday sister newspaper with similar political views.

Its international weekly edition is now titled The Guardian Weekly, though it retained the title Manchester Guardian Weekly for some years after the home edition had moved to London. It includes sections from a number of other internationally significant newspapers of a somewhat left-of-centre inclination, including Le Monde and The Washington Post. The Guardian Weekly was also linked to a website for expatriates, Guardian Abroad, which was launched in 2007 but had been taken offline by 2012.

The Guardian is printed in full colour, and was the first newspaper in the UK to use the Berliner format for its main section, while producing sections and supplements in a range of page sizes including tabloid, approximately A4, and pocket-size (approximately A5).

In 2004, The Guardian announced plans to change to a Berliner or "midi" format, similar to that used by Die Tageszeitung in Germany, Le Monde in France and many other European papers. At 470×315 mm, this is slightly larger than a traditional tabloid. Planned for the autumn of 2005, this change followed moves by The Independent and The Times to start publishing in tabloid (or compact) format. On Thursday, 1 September 2005, The Guardian announced that it would launch the new format on Monday 12 September 2005. Sister Sunday newspaper The Observer also changed to this new format on 8 January 2006.

The advantage The Guardian saw in the Berliner format was that, though it is only a little wider than a tabloid, and is equally easy to read on public transport, its greater height gives more flexibility in page design. The new presses mean that printing can go across the strip down the middle of the centre page, known as the "gutter", allowing the paper to print full double-page pictures. The new presses also made it the first UK national paper to print in full colour on every page.

The format switch was accompanied by a comprehensive redesign of the paper's look. On Friday, 9 September 2005, the newspaper unveiled its newly designed front page, which débuted on Monday 12 September 2005. Designed by Mark Porter, the new look includes a new masthead for the newspaper, its first since 1988. A typeface family designed by Paul Barnes and Christian Schwartz was created for the new design. With just over 200 fonts, it was described as "one of the most ambitious custom type programs ever commissioned by a newspaper". Among the fonts is Guardian Egyptian, a slab serif that is used in various weights for both text and headlines, and is central to the redesign.

The switch cost Guardian Newspapers £80 million and involved setting up new printing presses in east London and Manchester. This switch was necessary because, before The Guardian's move, no printing presses in Britain could produce newspapers in the Berliner format. There were additional complications, as one of the paper's presses was part-owned by Telegraph Newspapers and Express Newspapers, contracted to use the plant until 2009. Another press was shared with the Guardian Media Group's north-western tabloid local papers, which did not wish to switch to the Berliner format.

In June 2017, Guardian Media Group (GMG) announced that The Guardian and The Observer would relaunch in tabloid format from early 2018. The Guardian confirmed the launch date for the new format to be 15 January 2018. The paper and ink are the same as previously and the font size is fractionally larger.

An assessment of the response from readers in late April 2018 indicated that the new format had led to an increased number of subscriptions. The editors were working on changing aspects that had caused complaints from readers.

In July 2018, the masthead of the new tabloid format was adjusted to a dark blue.

The Guardian is a modern, multi-sectioned national quality newspaper offering a combination of main news and special interest supplements.

The paper's vision is to offer independent, agenda setting content that positions us as the modern, progressive, exciting challenger to the status quo. The Guardian is acknowledged throughout the industry as one of the most influential and recognisable media brands in the UK.

The Guardian is the only truly independent national newspaper in the UK. Ownership by the Scott Trust guarantees Guardian journalists are free to present the truth as they see it, with no proprietor, or shareholders dictating what can and cannot appear in our pages.

Throughout the week the main broadsheet offers national and international news, business and finance, comment & analysis, and daily sports coverage. The Monday and Saturday editions provide separate tabloid supplements entirely devoted to sport.

Monday to Friday, the paper is accompanied by G2, a features led section. G2 was the first of its kind in the quality daily press and its success quickly led to our competitors offering a similar product.

Dedicated recruitment supplements are published five days a week, providing expert commentary and analysis on a variety of markets and sectors, from Science and Technology through to Education and the Media.

The Saturday package provides readers with a total of eight sections including Guardian Weekend, a stylish, full-colour glossy magazine with a lifestyle focus.

Sections
Monday:
Main News
G2: The Monday Interview, Women, Arts, Architecture, Inside Story
Media Guardian: Media news and features, appointments and courses
Office Hours: Secretarial appointments and courses
Sport: Tabloid supplement

Tuesday
Main News
G2: Health, Portrait, Visual Arts, Wheels, Women, Arts, Law
Guardian Education: Senior, Further and Higher, appointments and courses
Educ@guardian: Special supplement focussing on IT&T in education, published five times a year

Wednesday
Main News
G2: Parents, Arts, Theatre, Food, Consumer
Society: Public service features, appointments and courses

Thursday
Main News
G2: Women, Consumer, Arts, Inside Story, In Pictures
Life: Dedicated weekly science supplement. Editorial features, interviews and a comprehensive recruitment section. Incorporates Online, a concise, one-stop guide to the liveliest events and developments in the IT&T world, appointments and courses
Small Business Solutions: Monthly supplement focussing on the Internet and telecommunications for small businesses

Friday:
Main News
G2: Real lives, Women, Private Lives, Arts and Entertainment Listings
Friday Review: The Friday Interview, Screen, Music, Box Office

Saturday:
Main News
Saturday Review: Arts, The Guardian Profile, Books
Travel: Travel features, classified travel advertising, Late Bookings and Best Offers
Sport: Features and columnists
Jobs & Money: Investment, Property Watch, Company Vitae, general appointments and courses
Rise: Weekly supplement dedicated to graduates and second jobbers
Weekend Glossy: lifestyle magazine, Fashion, Relationships, Space section featuring Homes, Interiors and Gardens
The Guide: Seven day TV listings, Cinema, Soulmates, Arts and Entertainments reviews and previews

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The Observer is a British newspaper published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its sister papers The Guardian and The Guardian Weekly, whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993, it takes a social liberal or social democratic line on most issues. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.

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. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. 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 owned a number of publications. The paper continued to receive government subsidies during this period; in 1819, of the approximately 23,000 copies of the paper distributed weekly, approximately 10,000 were given away as "specimen copies", distributed by postmen who were paid to deliver them to "lawyers, doctors, and gentlemen of the town." Yet the paper began to demonstrate a more independent editorial stance, criticising the authorities' handling of the events surrounding the Peterloo Massacre and defying 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 Beer, of the Sassoon family. Though circulation declined during her tenure, she remained as editor for thirteen years, combining it in 1893 with the editorship of The Sunday Times, a newspaper that she had also bought.

Upon Frederick's death in 1903, 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 James Louis 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 Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor four years later.

During this period, the Astors were content to leave the control of the paper in Garvin's hands. Under his editorship circulation reached 200,000 during the interwar years, a figure which Garvin fought to maintain even during the depths of the Great Depression. Politically the paper pursued an independent Conservative stance, which eventually brought Garvin into conflict with Waldorf's more liberal son David Astor. Their conflict 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, 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.

It became part of the Guardian Media Group in June 1993, after a rival bid to acquire it by The Independent was rejected.

Farzad Bazoft, a journalist for The Observer, was executed in Iraq in 1990 on charges of spying. In 2003, The Observer interviewed the Iraqi colonel who had arrested and interrogated Bazoft and who was convinced that Bazoft was not a spy.

In 2003 the editorial supported the Iraq war, stating "Military intervention in the Middle East holds many dangers. But if we want a lasting peace it may be the only option."

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 release podcasts. The paper's regular columnists include Andrew Rawnsley and Nick Cohen.

In addition to the weekly Observer Magazine colour supplement which is still present every Sunday, for several years each issue of The Observer came with a different free monthly magazine. These magazines had the titles Observer Sport Monthly, Observer Music Monthly, Observer Woman and Observer Food Monthly.

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 awarded the National Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards 2007. Editor Roger Alton stepped down at the end of 2007, and was replaced by his deputy, John Mulholland.

The Observer is a multi-sectioned national quality Sunday newspaper, offering a combination of main news and groundbreaking special interest supplements. Readers of the paper display high levels of interest in news, current affairs, sport and cultural issues. They value the Observer for its extensive, in-depth coverage as well as for being intelligent, articulate, unbiased and authoritative.

The Observer's sales success has been achieved through its policy of vibrant product development and unrivalled journalistic excellence. Unique products such as Observer Sport Monthly and Observer Food Monthly attract new readers and the quality of the overall package means these readers are tempted back to The Observer week-in, week-out.

Sections:
Main News
News, international news, focus, the world and comment.

Sport
A separate supplement comprising in-depth analysis of the weekend’s sporting fixtures.

Business & Media
Business news, the markets & analysis, @business, senior appointments.

Review
People, arts, books, film, entertainment listings and soulmates in a separate supplement.

Cash
A separate supplement including cover story, property, wealthcheck, fund profiles, share tips, saving and borrowing advice.

Escape
A travel supplement in tabloid format, incorporating features, travel news and tips, overseas and UK travel classifieds.

Observer Magazine
A lifestyle magazine with regular columnists, incorporating features and interviews. Life section includes fashion, health, food & drink, interiors & gardens.

OTV
Weekly TV and radio listings. Previews, features and film reviews.

Observer Sport Monthly
Published on the first Sunday of every month, Observer Sport Monthly contains high-profile interviews, extended sports features and comprehensive sports fixtures listings. An investigative approach that uncovers the stories behind the headlines.

Observer Food Monthly
Published on the second Sunday of every month, Observer Food Monthly comprises extended features on current food and drink issues, in-depth celebrity interviews, health and home, crimes against food and recipes.

Observer Music Monthly
Published on the third Sunday of every month, Observer Music Monthly contains interviews with key people in the music industry, extended features, reviews and previews. The magazine reviews the way music is covered in print media, taking an original, vibrant and exciting look at the music world.

Observer Travel Magazine
A bi-annual dedicated travel supplement comprises extended travel features, advice, celebrity-led interviews. The world through a travel filter.

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The Guardian Weekly is an international English-language news magazine based in London, UK. It is one of the world's oldest international news publications and has readers in more than 170 countries. Editorial content is drawn from its sister publications, the British daily newspaper The Guardian and Sunday newspaper The Observer, and all three are published and owned by the Guardian Media Group.

The first edition of the Manchester Guardian Weekly was printed on 4 July 1919, a week after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The Manchester Guardian viewed itself as a leading liberal voice and wanted to extend its reach, particularly in the United States, in the changing political climate after the First World War. The Weekly had the stated aim of "presenting what is best and most interesting in the Manchester Guardian, what is most distinctive and independent of time, in a compact weekly form". The initial reception was good. Before long the Manchester Guardian could boast "there is scarcely a corner of the civilised world to which it is not being posted regularly", although it is worth noting that the newspaper was banned in Germany by Hitler for a time.

For a large part of its early life the newspaper was a half-broadsheet format. Initially the notion of ‘the best of the Guardian’ meant a weighty opinion piece for the front page. It evolved, under the editorship of John Perkin, in 1969, to include the use of pictures on the front page.

In 1971, the English edition of the French daily newspaper Le Monde folded and the Weekly took on its 12,000-strong subscription list as well as four pages of Le Monde copy. A content deal was made with the Washington Post in 1975. Dedicated pages from both publications augmented Guardian articles until a redesign in 1993, under new editor Patrick Ensor, led to their articles appearing across the Weekly. In the same year, content from The Observer began to appear after the UK Sunday title was purchased by Guardian Media Group.

Around this time the Weekly relocated from Cheadle, to the south of Manchester, to join the rest of the Guardian in London. This move afforded the Weekly better access to editors, leader writers and news features. In 1991, technological advances enabled the first transmission by modem of pages to an Australian print site. Under Ensor's editorship, the paper began to be produced using the desktop publishing program Quark XPress. It became a tabloid-sized publication; then, in 2005, when the daily Guardian newspaper converted from a broadsheet to the smaller, Berliner format, the Guardian Weekly shrank to a half-Berliner while increasing pagination to its now-standard 48 pages. Full-colour printing was also introduced. By the end of Ensor's editorship, curtailed by his death from cancer in 2007, more advances in technology meant that even Weekly readers in the most remote locations were able to access the internet.

The appointment of Australian Natalie Bennett as Ensor's successor coincided with the Guardian’s move to a digital-first publishing strategy. Breaking news stories were now launched on the Guardian's fast-growing website, rather than held back to meet print deadlines. In 2007 a digital edition of the Guardian Weekly was created, an editor's blog was added and a presence on social media sites Facebook and Twitter came soon after. The Guardian Weekly can be found online at theguardian.com/weekly, where subscription information is also available. During her editorship, Bennett emphasised the need for the Weekly’s agenda to be truly global and increased its coverage of environmental issues and the developing world. Her passion for environmental politics led to her departure from the paper in 2012. She would go on to become the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales until 2016.

The Guardian Weekly’s evolution continued under Abby Deveney, a newspaper, newswire and web editor with more than three decades of international experience living and working in North America, Asia and Europe. Under Canadian Deveney, the Weekly embraced long-form journalism, with a greater emphasis on insightful writing, deep analysis and lively features that showcase a well-rounded world view. Reportage of global themes and trends now features on the front page, while the back page is a stage for the Guardian’s influential opinion writers. Her global experience ensures that the Weekly never comes from one geographical perspective. This aim has been aided by the launch in 2011 of a Guardian US website, edited from New York City, followed two years later by a Sydney-based Guardian Australia site, which greatly increased the Weekly’s coverage opportunities in these key territories. Deveney left the editorship in 2017 and was eventually replaced by Will Dean in April 2018.

The Guardian Weekly was re-designed in October 2018 as a glossy magazine. It was announced that the circulation of the magazine would increase, and three different editions would be published: International, North American, and Australian.

The title is printed at sites in the UK, South Africa, Canada, Australia and the United States in a full-colour news magazine format. The standard publication runs to 64 pages since its change of format (from a newspaper) on 12 October 2018.

The Guardian Weekly is read and enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world. The paper offers a compact digest of the best of the Guardian newspaper as well as a mix of news, features and book reviews from the Washington Post and articles translated from Le Monde, France's leading daily paper.

This unique mix from three of the world's great newspapers gives depth and perspective to the often confused events of the week. From professionals, diplomats, and opinion formers, to aid workers, teachers and students, it is an indispensable read for a wide range of people across the globe.

From its base in London the Guardian Weekly takes a world view, and sets itself the highest standards in journalism. It is full of news and analysis from foreign correspondents around the world. It features regular columnists who bring an experienced eye to the big stories of the day and also carries insiders' views from on location in Washington, Hong Kong and Brussels.

In addition to its regular sections, Guardian Weekly produces special supplements and features throughout the year.