How the Nikkei is using the FT to expand globally

Tsuneo Kita, the chairman of Nikkei, talked with Ken Doctor of Nieman Lab about how it’s using The Financial Times to grow its brand internationally.

Here is an excerpt:

DOCTOR: You now have two big brands, Nikkei and FT, and I know you’re doing some things together. Are there strategic decisions to be made of when you use the Nikkei brand and when you use the FT brand? Do you use them together? Are you still working through those issues?

KITA: One of the most important principles that we have is that the FT and Nikkei respect each other’s editorial independence. That’s of utmost importance in a partnership. So the FT is pursuing their own globalization strategy. Nikkei is pursuing our own. The way we report the news is different between us. The FT has its own view and Nikkei has its own view. If we have two different views, then that will make us able to offer more diversified views to our respective readers. Sometimes, we collaborate with each other. Sometimes, we’re competing with each other.