FT CEO: We should have more subscribers, will add more reporters in the U.S.

John Ridding

The political polarization in the United States provides an opportunity for the Financial Times to grow its subscribers in that country, according to CEO John Ridding.

Paul Sandle of Reuters write, “John Ridding said the FT, acquired by Japanese media group Nikkei for $1.3 billion in 2015, is increasing investment in the United States, along with China and India, after it reached the milestone of 1 million paying readers this week, a year ahead of target.

“‘I think we are underweight in the U.S.,’ Ridding told Reuters. ‘We can and should be bigger. Clearly there has been a polarization in the media in the U.S, alongside and probably contributing to a polarization in politics.

“‘There is a huge opportunity for what we do, which is independent, fair, balanced coverage.’

“Ridding said the company would be bringing new products to the U.S. market and would add more reporters.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.