Financial Times staff back call for Nikkei guarantee of independence
More than 200 journalists sign letter asking paper’s new owners to meet senior staff and NUJ representatives to discuss concerns
More than 200 Financial Times journalists have backed a call asking the newspaper’s new owners, Nikkei, to formalise its guarantee of editorial independence.
They have signed a letter requesting that executives of the Japanese company meet senior FT staff and representatives of the National Union of Journalists to discuss their concerns.
The issue was initially raised by three former FT editors in a letter that was published in the FT on 24 July, the day after Nikkei agreed to pay £844m to acquire the FT from Pearson.
Geoffrey Owen (editor, 1981-1990), Richard Lambert (1991-2001) and Andrew Gowers (2001-2005) wrote: “There is nothing at present in the governance structures of the publication to guarantee the continued independence of the editor. Since this is the key to the FT and to what it stands for, Nikkei would do well to put this right.”
That spurred NUJ journalists, who met on 5 August, to draft a statement in the form of a letter addressed to “dear friends at Nikkei”. It said: “We would like to work with Nikkei managers to enshrine past and present freedoms in our governance.”
Although it acknowledged that Nikkei had made a public statement about the FT retaining complete editorial independence under its ownership, the NUJ said:
“For more than 50 years the FT has benefited from the stability and protection offered by continuous ownership by Pearson, a company that allowed the ‘quality and integrity’ that you single out to flourish...As part of the close communications that you urge in your letter, we would like to work with Nikkei managers to enshrine past and present freedoms in our governance.There are precedents for this at other European titles, such as Les Echos and the Economist... While not in itself a guarantee of editorial independence, such a structure would be a clear statement of intent.”
A couple of weeks later, staff received a letter from the FT’s respected economics writer Martin Sandbu urging people – whether union members or not – to sign the statement. He wrote:
“This is not intended to be antagonistic towards either Nikkei or FT management. On the contrary, the statement makes clear that the FT’s editorial integrity is essential to the newpaper’s journalistic and commercial value, and therefore to the owners’ interest as well.”
Sandbu and the NUJ’s leader at the FT, Steve Bird, are to seek a meeting this week with the paper’s editor, Lionel Barber, to discuss an approach to Nikkei.
But their initiative does not appear to have Barber’s support, nor that of the group’s chief executive John Ridding. Both of them accept the credibility of Nikkei’s public statement guaranteeing editorial independence.
A senior FT source pointed out that there had never been a written guarantee during the years of Pearson’s ownership and that structures created elsewhere to protect independence (think Rupert Murdoch’s board at the Times) had been undermined.
An Economist-style structure was unneccesary, said the source, because Nikkei has been “incredibly respectful” of the FT’s need to be seen to be editorially independent.
The person said: “Having given their word in public, it is a matter of honour to stick by what was said.”
One of the concerns by staff who signed the statement, not all of whom are NUJ members, is about creating a formal process for the appointment of an editor.
No such process existed under Pearson either. And it is understood that there is no immediate crisis on that front because Barber, who has had meetings with Nikkei in London and in Tokyo, has been asked to stay on, as has Ridding.
As far as the FT group is concerned, the internal slogan is “New owners, new partners, same FT.”
But Bird and Sanbu, noting that Nikkei has yet to respond to their statement,which can been online, remain worried.
Bird said: “A joint initiative by Nikkei and the FT will send a positive signal to readers and be a great platform for the future.”
The deal between Pearson and Nikkei is due to be finalised by the end of November. Discussions over pension matters are yet to be resolved.
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