Friday, July 24, 2015

Nikkei buys Financial Times

An astonishing news. Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun [Japan Finance newspaper]), one of the largest media corporation in Japan decided to buy Financial Times (FT), a world famous newspaper from Pearson, a media conglomerate.

International Business Times: Pearson agrees to sell Financial Times Group to Nikkei in £844m deal

The deal was approved by the board of direction of Pearson on 23rd. It costs 1.31 billion USD. Pearson will not sell Economist, a famous magazine in which Big Mac Index is published.

My past entry: McDonald's in London

I recognize that FT is one of the best media in the world. The articles in FT are always sophisticated and accurate. The writers are talented and sincere. I heard an episode regarding FT, which supported the Iraq war, apart from any other media in the UK, but after the war, the representatives made an apology for its opinion.


A few years ago, I was a regular subscriber of FT. But the English language on the paper was so difficult that I could hardly understand the contents. Recently, I often read it in translated version. I am impressed by its deep consideration.

Nikkei is also a great media. Its articles are more trustworthy compared to other media in Japan. But its history is far short, Nikkei launched in 1946 while FT has been driven since 1888.

Nowadays, even giant media are subjected to purchase. Two years ago, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, bought Wall Street Journal personally. Chen Guangbiao, a Chinese billionaire, tried to buy New York Times, but failed.

My past entry: Mr. Bezos buy The Washington Post

My past entry: New York Times will be bought by China?

I think this trend suggests the difficulty of managing the newspaper. Printed media are suffering from decreasing sales in worldwide. Many media adopt the digital subscription scheme. But not a few people are satisfied to watch articles on the internet for free.

In addition to managing media, keeping the high quality of journalists and their articles is challenging. To be honest, I am afraid that FT will lose its reputation because of the change of ownership. I hope FT to continue unique and enlightening publication.


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