Financial Times
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The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink broadsheet paper. It is regarded as a newspaper of high repute, and has moved in recent years to become the most upmarket newspaper in Britain.
The FT was launched as the London Financial Guide on January 9, 1888, by James Sheridan and his brother, renaming itself the Financial Times on February 13 of the same year. Describing itself as the friend of "The Honest Financier and the Respectable Broker", it was initially published as a four page journal from its headquarters in London. It adopted its trademark pink paper in 1893 to distinguish it from its rival the Financial News (founded 1884), a move which helped ensure its success. After years of competing with four other financially-oriented newspapers, in 1945 it finally absorbed the Financial News, the last of its rivals.
The FT reports extensively on business and features extensive share and financial product listings. It also has a sizeable network of international reporters covering current affairs in general. The FT is usually in two pieces, the first piece covers national and international news, while the second piece contains company and financial news, share pieces and unit funds.
The Saturday edition of the FT has multiple sections providing broad coverage of 'Culture', the Arts, and 'Events'.
Although headquartered in London, the paper currently has more readers overseas than in Britain. Total circulation is about 450,000. There are four regional editions for the UK, Europe, the US and Asia.
The current editor of the FT is Andrew Gowers.
Since 2000 the FT has published a German language edition, Financial Times Deutschland, with its own news coverage. Its circulation in 2003 was approximately 90,000.
The Financial Times is owned by Pearson PLC, an international publishing company.
Despite its name, the paper has no connection with The Times.
One of the Financial Times' newsprint suppliers are Holmen, which produces their distinctively coloured newspaper.
Opinions
The newspaper is normally seen as a center-right/liberal, although to the left of its principal competitor, the Wall Street Journal. It also has been quite supportive, until recently, of Gordon Brown, the current British Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Some of the newspapers editorial views:
- Supports the European Union (pro-EU)
External link
- The Financial Times online (http://www.ft.com) — The website operates a fee-based subscription, but current and recent news stories are available free. It includes all the articles from the newspaper as well as web-only content. The website is updated 24 hours a day by teams in London, New York and Hong Kong.de:Financial Times