The unexpected purchase of the Financial Times Group last year by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun surprised everyone both in Japan and in the UK. It is unprecedented for a major Japanese newspaper to purchase a highly regarded Western newspaper.
Nikkei hopes to learn from the FT’s successful digital strategy and also to expand its readers globally. Nikkei and other major Japanese newspapers are suffering from a declining number of readers and are struggling to transition from a paper-oriented business to a digital-oriented one. Following this move from Nikkei, the Asahi Shimbun is also keen to push its digital agenda and the Mainichi Shimbun now has a partnership contract with the Wall Street Journal.
Japanese newspaper journalists are sometimes said to be too polite and respectful of authorities. Will the Nikkei/FT alliance spark a fundamental change in Japanese journalism?
Ginko Kobayashi published her book The Real Power of the Financial Times 「フィナンシャル・タイムズの実力」 in January 2016, detailing the drama of this extraordinary purchase, the characteristics of the British media, the present and the past of the FT, the FT’s digital strategy and the future of this Nikkei/FT partnership. For this event, Kobayashi will be joined by distinguished financial columnist and FT journalist John Plender, to discuss the impact of the FT on Japanese journalism.
Contributors: Ginko Kobayashi, John Plender
This event is free but booking is essential. Places can be booked at: http://www.dajf.org.uk/events/booking-form. |
