Publisher and managing editor of FT.com Ien Cheng believes that publishers need to model themselves on technology companies, by working quickly and being more responsive.  

"Change is hard for anyone, and I think it's a historic challenge for traditional publishers now," says Cheng. "The challenge for us is to become not just a publisher but a technology company in order to support that publisher."

Cheng's strategy involves, according to Guardian.co.uk blogger Jemima Kiss: "
- improving the development of new editorial products
- refining the subscription model
- changing the way the business works internally."

FT.com had 7.1 million unique users last month and a 72% increase in page views, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

"We need to learn from the web start-up and pure play web company approach that has technology much closer with the business. Publishers can't just think it's the it department over the wall that they throw stuff to. You've got to have the right platform, approach, mindset and processes to keep up," says Cheng.

Cheng remarks that there are technical changes, such as making the site run faster and appointing a new chief technology officer, but there are also editorial changes, such as expanding video coverage to about 150 reports a month. Last month, the site had over 1 million video views.

Though video and mobile are a priority, the most important thing is "remodeling the company to become more agile and to launch products in a more iterative, webby way," reports Kiss.

Cheng notes that advertising grew 40% this year and subscriptions 11-12%, with 10-15,000 people subscribing registering each week. The Financial Times newspaper also boasts an increase in circulation.

"Frankly, [every traditional news brand] shouldn't all survive," says Cheng. "But the ones that provide a sustainable value to users will not only survive but will be stronger. That will be good for consumers and good for journalism."

Source: Guardian.co.uk