Financial Times

We believe a diversity of perspectives enhances our journalism, enabling us to meet subscriber expectations for accurate reporting. We are dedicated to a diverse and equitable newsroom. Under the leadership of our Editor, Roula Khalaf, this ethos shapes our internal culture, informs our engagement with readers, and amplifies the public impact of our content.

Data-driven insights have deepened our understanding of how underreporting on minority communities can create knowledge gaps, potentially affecting policymaking and society’s broader comprehension of social and economic dynamics. The challenges posed by algorithmic equity is a priority for our editorial team including reporting and internal practices.

Editorial content highlights:

Democracy Video Series: A groundbreaking project amplifying women’s voices globally during a year of unprecedented elections. Data-Driven Reporting: The FT’s data team informs editorial decisions to ensure nuanced coverage of diverse perspectives, such as socioeconomic labour market dynamics and pay disparities within the LGBTQ+ community.

Opinion Writing: exploring critical issues such as labour market inequities and socioeconomic barriers.

Collaborations: The Financial Times collaborates with the Pulitzer Center and One World Media to provide a grant, mentorship and a producer to a documentary maker from the global South to report on how climate change impacts working lives in developing economies. In 2024, we supported and published the work of filmmaker Pawanjot Kaur, who told the story of the women who mine coal in Jharkhand, India and asked whether the country could manage a "just" transition away from fossil fuel.

Building a diverse newsroom

Our sister company and insight experts, Longitude, published a report on exclusion in newsrooms. It found that while the ambition is there, with 65 percent of respondents stating their company has an organisational goal to improve workforce diversity, there is still a lack of action in practice when ranked against other commercial priorities.

Initiatives include:

Newsroom apprenticeship: now in its second year, this programme, in partnership with the Manchester Evening News, supports individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds without university degrees.

Maisie Hylton fellowship: running for five years, this six-month programme supports aspiring Black journalists without requiring a university degree.

News School: This initiative is an intensive night school programme for people aged 18-21 from underrepresented backgrounds. The programme consists of sessions with senior leaders in journalism, enabling access to the best in our business. It has led to six permanent hires across the FT and annually, we employ 10 summer interns.

Audience Engagement Our Diversity and Inclusion efforts extend to audience engagement strategies through collaboration across editorial, marketing, product, and audience engagement teams. One of the FT’s priority goals is to become a trusted news source for women, with ambitious targets to engage women subscribers over the next few years, building on existing success in this area. Our newsroom tools for reporters and editors play a key role in fostering inclusivity by tracking the use of diverse sources and bylines throughout the storytelling process. These tools encourage editors to ensure that our stories reflect a broad range of perspectives, aligning with our commitment to equitable reporting.