Nikkei’s purchase of FT will be good for its staff

Ken Doctor of Nieman Journalism Lab writes that the acquisition of the Financial Times by Nikkei means that few editorial staffers, if any, will lose their jobs.

Doctor writes, “I hear FT staff rejoiced at the Nikkei news today. That makes a certain sense. If an FT competitor, like Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters or Dow Jones — all of whom apparently found the price too rich — had bought the FT, we would have heard endless talk of ‘synergy’ and ‘integration.’ How to mesh those 600 FT journalists with news staffs three and four times their size? ‘How many people do we need covering Microsoft?’

“Given the Japanese/English language barrier, among other factors, that bow won’t be the case. While the current FT/Nikkei news partnership will undoubtedly become jet-fueled, there’s more upside than downside for FT journalists and staff.

“One big hope, as a source close to the action told me: ‘Nikkei will be principled, hands-off owners, and they have the muscle to invest.’ Previous parent Pearson, struggling mightily with the turnaround of its core education businesses, didn’t have the money to expand the FT to its fuller potential. Nikkei does.”

Read more here.