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A "Day in the Life" of a US Reader

We often hear the misconception that the Financial Times is purely business news-focused or that it’s explicitly international in scope. In fact, our US readership values the FT over other publications for its breadth of reporting on topical news, as well as the unbiased viewpoint it brings to coverage of domestic issues.

In the post below, we’ll explore the variety and depth of FT reporting on key events both in the US and globally that impact US policy and politics.

With 40 news bureaus from Washington, D.C. to Shanghai, the FT delivers a multifaceted perspective on the day’s top stories, giving readers a more complete picture of the issues than they will find elsewhere. According to the 2017 FT global readership survey, 76% of US readers agree that the FT provides something they can’t get from other news sources.

A “Day in the Life” of a US Reader

The best way to experience the benefits afforded by our coverage is to read it for yourself. Here, we’ll take you through a “day in the life” of an FT Group Subscription reader in the US, including the array of alerts and content available to all members of a group license.

Or, if you’re ready to jump in and trial FT.com for you and your team, you can register here.

Early morning read: FT Swamp Notes

Readers can start their morning with a fresh edition of Swamp Notes, the FT’s subscriber-only newsletter on money and power in President Trump’s America. Twice a week, senior US columnists Rana Foroohar and Edward Luce reflect on what’s driving the agenda in Washington, New York and beyond.

On top of thoughtful analysis and recommended reads, subscribers are treated to an irreverent call and response as the co-authors counter each other’s ideas directly in the body of the newsletter. This dynamic exchange – between Rana, an American, and Ed, a Brit living in the States – sets Swamp Notes apart from the one-sided punditry of other politics and policy briefs. And, it brings the newsroom alive by inviting subscribers to participate in the discussion.

Here’s a sample from the duo’s midterm elections preview, The midterm countdown. Rana writes,

If the Democrats take the house is tomorrow’s midterms, it will certainly be a welcome sign that Trump’s divide and conquer strategy isn’t working. But even if they do, America’s politics aren’t going to miraculously reset to the 1990s. There are no easy answers about how to make the heartland look forward, not back. Geographic wealth concentration has become as bifurcated as out politics -- a recent McKinsey Global Institute report found that a mere 10 percent of counties represent 90 percent of the country’s wealth. Terms like anxiety, depression and opioids are trending on Google. Of course, that company’s own workforce is rebelling, but their protests are focused on identity not economics.

The same is still true for much of the Democratic Party. Angry liberals may well turn out on Tuesday in droves to protest Trump’s divisive fear-mongering … But Democrats will eventually have to move beyond the anti-Trump reaction to voice their own fresh economic messages.

Stay informed throughout the day: fastFT news alerts

Short and sweet, fastFT news alerts provide FT subscribers with a topline read-out of developing news stories from around the globe. Readers have the option to receive all fastFT updates as news breaks or to only receive alerts on the topics that matter most to them via myFT.

As an example, subscribers following the US tech industry received the recent alert from Silicon Valley, where FT journalist Hannah Kuchler reported on the latest legal headache for Facebook. Though concise, fastFT bulletins cover all relevant details and context, saving readers time.

Facebook has agreed to pay $69m in legal costs after shareholders sued to try to prevent chief executive Mark Zuckerberg from creating a third class of shares.

The world’s largest social network said in a filing that it had agreed to pay the sum – less than the $129m originally demanded – by mid-November.

The case was withdrawn in September 2017 days before Mr. Zuckerberg was due to take the stand. Mr. Zuckerberg abandoned his plan to create the third class of stock, which would have had no voting rights. The shareholders had described his plan as “self-interested.”

His plan was designed to allow him to retain control over the company he founded, while giving away the majority of his stock in a charitable pledge. But a 50 per cent rise in the value of the stock allowed him to fulfil these wishes for up to 20 years without creating a Class C stock.

The FT is expanding its technology coverage, including broader reporting on innovation out of Silicon Valley. Equipped with our comprehensive critical analysis, your teams will be better positioned to lead key conversations – ultimately strengthening your client relationships. Come and see what our tech desk is up to.

See the bigger picture: Opinion & Analysis

Our journalists are true subject matter experts, and the FT’s coverage of major events extends far beyond initial news reports. We excel in after-the-fact analysis, delivering a series of illuminating deep dives and trustworthy commentary to paint a full picture for our readers.

This includes Opinion pieces that tackle cultural and societal dynamics, like the following from US managing editor Gillian Tett, who covers a range of economic, financial, political and social issues:

… it is the “millennial” (also known as “Generation Y”) tag that is most widely used today to define new political and social trends: Factiva data suggests that the term has appeared no fewer than 45,000 times in the global media in the past three months (four times as many as “baby boomers”).

And it is the millennial label that tends to provoke the most tension: baby boomers and Gen X grumble that millennials are entitled and unfocused (or so the stereotype goes). Millennials retort that the older generation has created an economic mess, benefited from home ownership and pensions that they can only dream of, and that they have been forced to become more creative, resilient and socially minded as a result.

As this tussle plays out in offices everyday, a certain irony hangs over the debate. If you look closely at that millennial label, it is starting to look rather, dare I say, old, if not past its sell-by-date – so much so, that some think it is actually time to stop talking about millennials altogether.

Subscribing to the FT for your team or organization provides access to our Premium coverage. What does Premium include? You can read about it here.

Unwind: Weekend Long Reads

Each week, the FT curates the best of the week’s long-form content into a special feature, FT Best of Weekend Long Reads. This collection covers a diverse set of in-depth reporting from across FT.com, on topics ranging from the recycling crisis to Orson Welles – a welcome respite from the frenzied news cycle of the work week.

One such long read investigates how Italy’s organized crime families have infiltrated the country’s food chain, from field to fork:

Giuseppe Antoci had been warned more than once. “You will end with your throat cut,” read one note, composed entirely of individual letters clipped from newspapers in ransom-note style. 

In May 2016, they came. Antoci, then president of the Nebrodi National Park, a protected area in Sicily’s north-east, was returning home from a meeting accompanied by his police escort. As his armour-plated Lancia Thesis rounded a bend in the Miraglia forest, he saw the mountain road was strewn with rocks, forcing the driver to stop.

An FT Group Subscription extracts the intelligence that’s relevant to your business and delivers it via the media and technologies that suit you best, saving you time and keeping you informed on what matters.

For more information about how the Financial Times can help your organisation or to request a free trial, please get in touch.

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