Financial Times (FT)

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 7:51pm on Thursday, August 13th, 2009

The Financial Times will introduce a pay-per-article system, the Guardian newspaper reported on August 7, 2009:

"The Financial Times is to introduce a full "pay-per-view" model for accessing online articles by next summer and is reviewing whether any content on FT.com will remain free to access.

Pearson's business and financial broadsheet is exploring online payment systems that offer a user-friendly "one-click" process, such as Amazon and Apple's iTunes.

Plans to launch the "pay-per-article" system have necessitated a wider review of the other content access models FT.com currently operates and could potentially spell the end of any free content on the website."

The full story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/07/ft-com-financial-times-pay-per-view-content-charging

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:55pm on Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber says that almost all news organizations will start charging for online content within a year, and that they must "build payment platforms" for the online world. The Guardian newspaper ran the story on July 16, 2009:

"The Financial Times editor, Lionel Barber, has predicted that "almost all" news organisations will be charging for online content within a year.

Barber said building online platforms that could charge readers on an article-by-article or subscription basis was one of the key challenges facing news organisations.

"How these online payment models work and how much revenue they can generate is still up in the air," Barber said in a speech at at a Media Standards Trust event at the British Academy last night.

"But I confidently predict that within the next 12 months, almost all news organisations will be charging for content."

Barber is the latest leading executive to suggest the newspaper industry has to radically overhaul its existing business model."

The full story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/16/financial-times-lionel-barber

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 5:21pm on Thursday, December 4th, 2008

On December 3, 2008, the Guardian reported that the Financial Times is ready to cut the work week for its staff:

"The Financial Times is offering staff the opportunity to work a three-day week as part of cost-cutting measures designed to avoid the need for job cuts.

John Ridding, the Financial Times chief executive, informed staff yesterday that the cost-cutting measures were being put in place as a result of a worsening global economic conditions in an internal email, seen by MediaGuardian.co.uk.

Among the measures being introduced at the FT is an invitation to staff to make a voluntary reduction in the number of days they work, down to three or four a week if individual departments could accommodate those changes.

Other cost-cutting moves at the FT include a freeze on the salaries of some employees and the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy.

In line with guidelines from parent company Pearson, pay will be frozen to 2008 levels for employees earning more than £30,000, Ridding said."