The Financial Times and the Google News Initiative have renewed their partnership that delivers consulting programmes for journalists and news publishers.
In collaboration with the Google News Initiative (GNI), FT Strategies will support journalists and publishers working at 1,000 news organisations globally by 2027 to achieve digital transformation goals and develop sustainable business models.
Since its inception in 2020, the partnership has aided more than 700 news media publishers, focusing on financial sustainability, audience growth through improving organisational diversity, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within their workflows.
From 2025, there will be an increased emphasis on AI innovation, building on the success of the AI Launchpad programmes delivered this year. The FT and the Google News Initiative will expand the geographical scope of the partnership, with an increased focus on Central and Latin America.
FT CEO John Ridding said: “Our journey at the FT has proved that news media can be a quality growth business. At a time when trusted information has never been more threatened and therefore essential, we are delighted to renew our partnership with Google to share our experience and expertise with other publishers. This collaboration, with a heightened focus on AI and technological adoption, will empower a diverse array of publishers to thrive in the digital age.”
FT Strategies managing director Joanna Levesque said: “We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with GNI and continue to deliver digital transformation programmes with impact worldwide. The progress we’ve seen so far is encouraging, and we look forward to helping support even more success stories across the industry in the coming years.”
Jaffer Zaidi, vice president of global news partnerships at Google said: “We are proud of our continued collaboration with FT Strategies and excited about the opportunities ahead as we continue to explore the use of technology to support innovation and sustainability in journalism.”
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For more information please contact:
Mark Staniland, FT | mark.staniland@ft.com
Robin Suchan, Google | suchan@google.com
About the Google News Initiative
The Google News Initiative works side-by-side with publishers and journalists to build a more sustainable, diverse and innovative news ecosystem. GNI offers training, products and funding to journalists and newsrooms to help strengthen their work in the digital age, working to bring together industry leaders around the world, cultivating a diverse news community to spur innovation and tackle pressing issues like media literacy and misinformation.
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times (FT) is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of 1.4 million people, more than one million of whom are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services to the global business community.
About FT Strategies
FT Strategies (FTS) provides the expert insight, integrity and consulting excellence required to transform businesses based on real world, first-hand experience. We work together with our clients to deliver sustainable growth strategies, built on leading-edge capabilities that improve customer engagement, retention, revenues and profit. The FT transformed from a 134-year-old legacy print brand into a thriving digital model and FTS utilises this practical best-in-class expertise to help clients thrive in the digital economy.