How to diversify your reading with the FT

An FT Professional Subscription gives organisations and institutions unrestricted access to premium journalism to aid informed decision-making. But why do you need the FT when other outlets are readily available? This blog article explores the value FT journalism offers alongside other sources of market information and why professionals need to be cautious of where they receive intelligence that can trigger a change in business operations.

Local journalists usually cover stories as they emerge to keep the community up-to-date on subject matters that may impact them. For that reason, regional newspapers have a loyal readership as they can offer exclusive insight into relevant areas, such as local politics and small businesses.

Irrespective of being a global newspaper, the FT offers valuable journalistic insights to readers around the world. With over 700 journalists in more than 40 countries, the FT can cover news stories both big and small in meticulous detail. Our team of journalists are some of the best in the world which means they bring with them an extensive network, including those who work locally, to enrich their reporting on certain subject matters. This also means they can work collaboratively, like FT journalists did with Greensill Capital, to investigate fradulent practices. Although supporting local news outlets is important and should not be overlooked, organisations need to incorporate FT journalism into their essential reading to ensure they can understand major themes and act accordingly.

The FT is no longer just a newspaper but is also an essential business tool that helps upskill professionals on where there may be perceived knowledge gaps. As a result, individuals spend less time understanding the news and more time on how they can utilise market intelligence to maintain a competitive advantage.

FT Professional has invested in its offering to introduce intelligent tools and features such as Workspace, Highlighting and workflow integration to ensure those using the FT for work can optimise their use of market information. The FT recognises that it is no longer enough to know what’s happening in the world without being able to take action, at the most appropriate time and one that yields positive results. For example, with Advanced Sharing, organisations can share FT content at scale with non-subscribers to spark meaningful conversations. The benefit of this is that key stakeholders can all have visibility on the most relevant headlines, opening the door for discussions at a much earlier stage. In the long term, this means businesses can respond to signals before an event occurs and can take appropriate actions to help mitigate the impact of a crisis.

FT Professional also offers business leaders the opportunity to join Board Network, an exclusive community for corporate boards. One of the major perks of this membership is the weekly intelligence briefing on the latest news, regulations and resources for corporate boards by FT senior business writer, Andrew Hill. From events with world-class speakers to peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, FT Board Network offers professionals the latest intelligence and an authoritative space to debate and exchange ideas on a range of boardroom matters.

An advantage of reading the FT is that it’s one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has also been named Europe's leading business publication for the 7th year in a row by Ipsos. What this means for a global publication like the FT is that we can secure exclusive interviews and obtain scoops on news stories before they make headlines. With a Professional subscription, teams and particularly decision makers are always ahead of the curve and can respond to signals as opposed to reacting to the event. For example, the CEO of Infraclear told the FT how his company took its “money out of SVB two weeks before its collapse”. He further explained how Infraclear took this action “after reading an article in the FT about the problems with Silicon Valley Bank’s balance sheet”. This not only reflected well on him in terms of his ability to assess risk but also strengthened his relationship and credibility with investors and fellow colleagues.

With an abundance of free news, it begs the question of why one needs to pay for a subscription. Without sounding cliche, the FT is a credible news outlet because it upholds the highest possible standards of ethical and professional journalism, where the benchmark is set by FT Editorial Code. This means that FT reporting is entirely objective and based on facts rather than opinions.

Free news can more often than not be laced with opinions, unreliable sources and misinterpretations as those providing the information don’t necessarily have the right qualifications or experience to report on such stories. The editorial team at the FT comprises subject-matter experts who look into areas in which they have the most amount of knowledge and understanding in. For example, Rana Foroohar is the FT’s global business columnist and associate editor. However, before the FT, Rana spent 6 years at TIME, as assistant managing editor and economic columnist and an additional 13 years at Newsweek, as an economic and foreign affairs editor and a foreign correspondent covering Europe and the Middle East. So whether she’s covering a post-pandemic boom in female employment or the relationship between US and China, readers can trust that her reporting is thorough, clear and balanced.

The importance of verifying content has been reiterated by FT’s European Comment Editor, Tony Barber who looked into partisan news media and the role of social media in spreading fake news. On the upside, a survey indicates that 85 per cent of EU citizens want policymakers to do more to prevent the spread of disinformation, indicating a rise in its awareness. Disinformation is particularly detrimental to business operations as it can lead to significant financial losses.

The reason why we charge for a Professional subscription is so that the FT can continue to invest in the latest technologies to help readers optimise their use of market intelligence. This means organisations and institutions not only have access to accurate information but are also to use FT insights to drive productivity by understanding trending issues, build expertise in niche areas and communicate effectively with key stakeholders at the most opportune time. The FT's subscription model also enables us to keep up with the growing demand for credible journalism and has even helped us expand our global editorial team during a period where many are being pared-back. Recently, the FT built out a new professional services reporting team in New York to cover a range of topics relating to the legal and accounting sector for a global readership.

Help your team make better business decisions with the FT’s trusted commentary and analysis. For more information about how FT Professional can help your organisation, please get in touch.