#DigitalJournalism101 – lessons from the FT

OK. So Newsweek’s gone wholly digital. The final print issue appeared December 2012.

Now the Financial Times has just unveiled its own “digital-first” strategy

Read editor Lionel Barber’s letter to his staff, here

Highlights:

“Mobile alone now accounts for 25 per cent of all the FT’s digital traffic.”

“We are moving from a news business to a networked business.”

“We need to ensure that we are serving a digital platform first, and a newspaper second.”

“We must rethink how we publish our content, when and in what form, whether conventional news, blogs, video or social media.”

“This is not an easy transition, but we are obliged to take the difficult steps to secure the FT’s future as one of the world’s great news organisations.”

Interesting.

PONDER:

My thoughts: I wonder where exactly Nigeria stands amidst the digital upheaval. No doubt digital is the future, but print seems set to stay around for the foreseeable future. People will still need an outlet for their birthday messages and obituaries, and governments will need an outlet for their advertorials and rejoinders. Things seems truer/real-er on paper, perhaps.

Meanwhile keep this in mind: Mobile devices overtook desktop computers as the primary means of accessing the internet in Nigeria late in 2011. 

India (internet penetration 11%) followed in mid-2012

READ:

A review I wrote, of ‘Future Tense: Travails of NEXT And Nigerian Journalism In The Digital Age.’ A book reviewing the birth and death (temporary, one hopes) of Nigeria’s NEXT newspaper, and the state of journalism in the country in the 21st century. HERE