OBSERVER, THE

Sunday newspaper established in 1791, the first Sunday paper published in Britain. It is one of England's quality newspapers, long noted for its emphasis on foreign coverage. The paper devotes extensive space to the arts, government, education, and politics, and it has a worldwide reputation for responsible journalism. The Observer is considered by other editors to be among the world's best papers. For many years it has maintained a substantial staff of foreign correspondents that supplies news and background pieces for the paper's generally well-educated readers, including a large international audience. The Observer briefly passed out of British ownership in 1976, when it was sold to an American conglomerate, the Atlantic Richfield Company. In 1981 it was returned to British hands when an industrialist, Roland Rowland, bought control.