Former FT staffer on how the paper has changed

Former Financial Times staffer Izabella Kaminska writes about how the paper has changed.

Kaminska writes, “The FT used to be a place where elites exchanged unvarnished truths, while populist outlets peddled agenda-driven narratives to the masses. Or at least, so the adage went.

“That is no longer the case. Today, I subscribe because the content helps me understand herd mentality in markets – what I call “beta money” flows.

“The question is: how did the FT evolve from a candid elite forum where dialogue was a point of pride – the best of the British free-thinking tradition – to an increasingly timid, risk-averse rag with little appetite for publishing ideas that sit far outside the prevailing party line? What happened to the “without fear or favour” spirit that championed the interests of the investor? I have some ideas.

“My hunch is that this change was driven by the evolution of its business model. In response to falling advertising revenue and digitisation, the FT slowly but surely moved from serving a comparatively narrow but powerful, largely UK-centred financial readership to chasing mass subscriptions.”

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