FT Strategies and the Google News Initiative (GNI) have launched the News Sustainability Project, an industry research effort that aims to understand, measure and enable sustainability readiness for publishers across the world.
At the centre of the effort is the Publisher Sustainability Diagnostic, a freely available tool that news organisations can use to assess their sustainability readiness, compare their performance across industry benchmarks, and receive tailored recommendations.
The News Sustainability Project was conducted in partnership with industry associations including the International News Media Association. It was informed by detailed data from 450+ publishers and conversations with 50+ industry experts.
FT Strategies Managing Director Tara Lajumoke said: “We define sustainability for news publishers based on their ability to fulfil their journalistic mission over the long-term, reach the financial resilience and stability to continue investing in quality journalism, and adapt and evolve as markets and audiences change.
“The diagnostic is still in beta, so we're looking for publisher feedback in the coming months to improve it. Our aim is for it to evolve over time as we grow our knowledge of sustainability and gather more data.”
Arun Venkataraman, News Sustainability Project Lead, GNI, said: "Our hope is that the project creates space for the news ecosystem to come together to deepen its understanding of sustainability and enable potential pathways to success. While there are no easy, complete or perfect answers, we know that this work is crucial to enabling a diverse, thriving news ecosystem."
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For more information please contact: Mark Staniland | mark.staniland@ft.com
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times 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 1.2 million, more than one million of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.
About FT Strategies
FT Strategies 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 135-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.
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.