FT editor: We’re producing paper from makeshift offices

Roula Khalaf, the editor of the Financial Times, wrote the following to its readers:

I am immensely proud of the work FT reporters and editors are doing, in circumstances that have been trying in the extreme. Our headquarters at Bracken House, in the heart of the City of London, are all but deserted. With few exceptions, our offices around the world are shuttered. Almost everything you read on FT.com and in the paper has to be written, edited and produced by my colleagues and me from makeshift offices at home. Many of us have children to look after, and elderly relatives to worry about. Like all of you, we are concerned about our health and the health of our loved ones. Like all of you, we are having to prepare for scenarios that we hope will not come to pass.

Amid all this uncertainty, I want to reassure you that one thing remains unchanged — our total commitment to the FT, and to you, the readers. We take heart from the fact that there are more of you today than ever before. Our paid readership passed the 1m mark last year, and it has risen steadily since. We have seen an unprecedented increase in new readers and subscribers since the start of the coronavirus crisis. To all those new subscribers, let me say: thank you. We will do everything we can to keep your trust.

This brings me to a final point. Quality journalism costs money. We know — and we never forget — where that money comes from: from you, the readers. Our financial strength is the bedrock of our independence, and the guarantee of our future as a world-class business newspaper. We were one of the first media companies in the world to introduce a paywall, and today we are more confident than ever that this is the right model for the FT.

Read more here.