Not surprisingly, Guardian editor-in- chief Kath Viner was conspicuous by her absence when departing Observer staff said their final goodbyes last month. But staff say this was not to avoid awkward exchanges over her part in the Sunday paper’s controversial sale. Viner is now rarely sighted in the office, nor does she turn up to handle the paper’s morning conference meetings – leaving those instead to her affable deputy, Owen Gibson.
Her absence has done little, though, to tackle the simmering resentments over the sale. A sizable faction within the newsroom still want its union to hold a formal no-confidence ballot in Viner (the union has already voted “no
confidence” in the newspaper’s board). But this has become mired in internal conflicts over tactics.
Union committee members would prefer not to hold a no-confidence vote, believing instead that they can secure governance reforms, including an extra board seat for staff members, if they hold off. Disgruntled staff think the committee is squandering the union’s moment of maximum leverage for the vague promise of meaningless concessions.
Those staff fear that if Viner succeeds in being elevated to the new post of global executive editor, she will have formalised the new arrangement in which she takes home £500,000-plus a year without having to interact with the newsroom – and so want to pressure the board before that’s official. If they miss the window, the concessions may disappear as quickly as Viner herself.
Some have even started referring cryptically to the future of belonging to “Gino” – a coinage apparently stolen from US politics, standing for “Guardian In Name Only”.
