Categories: OLD Media Moves

Pearson picked Nikkei due to culture fit with FT

Pearson selected Nikkei as the buyer of the Financial Times because of the ability of the two business newspapers to combine the culture and due to their similar editorial independence, writes Kelsey Sutton of Capital New York.

Sutton writes, “Considerations to sell F.T. began last year among Fallon, Ridding, and F.T. editor-in-chief Lionel Barber amidst an upheaval in journalism’s business model around the world.

“‘We started to talk seriously about the best long-term future for the Financial Times, particularly given this inflection point in the media,’ Fallon said.

“It was agreed that Nikkei was best poised to help F.T. navigate into uncharted territory for F.T., including expansion into Asian markets and to the U.S.

“‘What the F.T. really needed was to be part of an organization that is completely and absolutely focused on journalism,’ Fallon said.”

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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.