Scott Trust Limited - The Trust Today

The Trust Today

The Trust is responsible for appointing the editor of The Guardian (and those of the group's other main newspapers) but apart from enjoining them to continue the paper's editorial policy on "the same lines and in the same spirit as heretofore", has a policy of not interfering in their decisions. This arrangement tends to give editors a long tenure - for example, the present incumbent, Alan Rusbridger, has been there since 1995. GMG's acquisition of The Observer, however, was followed by a quick succession of editors, amid reports of intrigue and accusations of interference.

In 1992, the Trust identified its central objective as being the following:

To secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity: as a quality national newspaper without party affiliation; remaining faithful to liberal tradition; as a profit-seeking enterprise managed in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The Trust sees its main functions as being the following:

• To secure the Trust's own continuity by renewing its membership and by dealing with threats to its existence;
• To monitor the organisation, financial management and overall strategy of the Group, holding the board accountable for its performance;
• To appoint and 'in extreme circumstances' to dismiss the editors of The Guardian and The Observer,
• To act as a 'court of appeal' in the event of any dispute between the editorial and managerial sides of the operation.

Besides the GMG businesses, the Scott Trust has a charitable wing, the Scott Trust Foundation, and oversees the Guardian's archive and education centre.

The current chair of the Trust is Liz Forgan, a former Director of Programmes at Channel 4 and Managing Director of BBC Radio. She was appointed in November 2003 to fill the vacancy left by the death of Hugo Young. Other trustees include the current Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger, Larry Elliott, Will Hutton, Geraldine Proudler, and one member of the Scott family.

Forgan is the sixth chair of the trust; her predecessors were John Scott (1936–48), Alfred Powell Wadsworth (1948–56), Richard Scott (1956–84), Alastair Hetherington (1984–89), and Hugo Young (1990–2003).

In February 2010, the Trust announced the sale of its GMG Regional Media arm and its regional print titles to the Trinity Mirror Group. The regional titles comprised the Manchester Evening News and 31 others in the North West and South of England. The sale was finalised on 28 March 2010 and ended the Scott Trust's association with regional newspapers.