Financial Times journalists reacted with shock and wry, occasionally dark humour at the 127-year-old newspaper’s surprise £844m purchase by Japanese media group Nikkei.
The head of the FT’s Lex column, Robert Armstrong, said the column would be overhauled with immediate effect and described the sale as a “goddamn bargain”.
Lex column to publish exclusively in anime, effective immediately
— Robert Armstrong (@rbrtrmstrng) July 23, 2015
Nikkei pays ~$2.4m per FT journalist. A goddamn bargain if you ask me.
— Robert Armstrong (@rbrtrmstrng) July 23, 2015
He wasn’t the only one impressed by the £844m price tag.
@meganmurp Well, the 35x earnings is for the whole FT Gruop, and they are not buying that. I think it's more like 70x
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas2) July 23, 2015
Reporter James Wilson said the sale could only be good news for the Alphaville, the FT’s daily news and commentary service.
Alphaville, you see, is also the name of a German band best known for their 1984 single ... well, you can see for yourself.
FT sale to Nikkei will be good for @FTAlphaville https://t.co/IduI04guAT
— James Wilson (@James_Wilson_UK) July 23, 2015
US-based Ben McLannahan didn’t hang around - or mince his tweets - in the aftermath of the sale.
Nikkei CEO: "we share the same journalistic values". Really
— Ben McLannahan (@bmclannahan) July 23, 2015
I for one welcome our new Japanese overlords (that's me in the middle) pic.twitter.com/OiASublv0A
— Ben McLannahan (@bmclannahan) July 23, 2015
Staff packed into a room at One Southwark Bridge to hear from Pearson’s chief executive John Fallon, FT Group boss John Ridding and editor Lionel Barber after news of the sale broke on Thursday afternoon.
FT meeting pic.twitter.com/PULNrQC4VL
— John Gapper (@johngapper) July 23, 2015
The best running commentary – Barber said it was “not a shotgun marriage” – came from departing deputy political editor, Beth Rigby, who hit the ground running ahead of her new role as media editor of the Times..
Fallon "loves" the FT. But he also says FT is better served by being owned by a co completely focused on the best journalism in the world
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 23, 2015
Barber. "I have every reason to believe and expect Nikkei will respect this vital principle: editorial independence" #FT
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 23, 2015
Barber in Q&A: "This was not and is not a shot gun marriage there has been hours of conversation about this" #FTsale
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) July 23, 2015
This was the scene.
Pearson says goodbye #FT pic.twitter.com/UYdZdslvmc
— Siona Jenkins (@SionaJ) July 23, 2015
With the FT’s London HQ not part of the sale, property editor Kate Allen pointed out the difficulty of finding a new home in the capital (but did not actually reference the FT or its sale, it should be pointed out).
Worst possible time for a London business to embark on a search for new space, incidentally. Big shortfall of space, rents spiking.
— Kate Allen (@_Kate_Allen) July 23, 2015
On a similar note...
Wondering where we're moving to now @FT has been sold. Note Nikkei's London editorial HQ is a leafy lane in Winkfield, Berkshire.
— Chris Nuttall (@ChrisNuttall) July 23, 2015
The FT’s executive comment editor Mark Vandevelde reported on an exchange between the paper’s editor, Lionel Barber, and Pearson chief executive John Fallon at a staff meeting after the sale was announced.
"That's the first and last order I'll take from you as proprietor", says FT ed @lionelbarber after Fallon tells hacks to press mute.
— Mark Vandevelde (@markvdvd) July 23, 2015
Earlier all eyes in the newsroom had been on the screens as details of the deal broke.
In the FT newsroom as the Nikkei deal news breaks. pic.twitter.com/A9waAAOos9
— Neil Hume (@humenm) July 23, 2015
Here are some other responses from FT insiders
Smug colleague is sending emails in Japanese #sigh
— Alice Ross (@aliceemross) July 23, 2015
In 1987 Pearson sold the FT's building to a Japanese buyer and kept the paper. Now it's selling the paper and keeping the building. Discuss.
— Peter Thal Larsen (@peter_tl) July 23, 2015
Nikkei’s core value is "Long-Time Policy Over Free Market System". Still, their English beats Pearson's Harvard-wannabe management-speak.
— James Mackintosh (@jmackin2) July 23, 2015
Wait! Did we get sold? No wonder newsroom so distracted. I thought it was cricket. https://t.co/da4Qutg7Sj
— Joshua Chaffin (@JoshuaChaffin) July 23, 2015
Earlier reports had suggested that the paper might be bought by Axel Springer.
And here I was spending all day learning German.
— Peter Spiegel (@SpiegelPeter) July 23, 2015
