FT’s Khalaf on her first year as editor

Ray Snoddy of InPublishing examined the first year as editor for Roula Khalaf of the Financial Times.

Snoddy writes, “But for the FT editor, the big story of the paper’s evolution as a business has been the confirmation of the importance of subscriptions.

“‘This is the story of the media during the pandemic. If you have a subscriptions business, then your subscriptions business has done well. People want to read more so there is a real vote of confidence in the news business during the pandemic,’ Khalaf argues.

“FT subscriptions are up 7 per cent year-on year to 1.1 million – 950,000 of them digital, and levels of engagement have grown enormously.

“On the journalistic front, Khalaf believes the FT has been ‘nimble and on the story from the start.’

“The paper had someone in Wuhan at an early stage and then followed the pandemic from country to country and produced new products to drive engagement. They have included live blogs which follow the Covid story, effectively, 24 hours a day starting in London, then moving to New York time and on to Asia.”

Read more here.