Financial Times gets its first woman editor and we couldn’t be more thrilled
It took 131 years to get a woman to take charge of the Financial Times — and we couldn’t be more proud of our colleague Roula Khalaf for being the one to do it. It is wonderful to see a woman, that too from a diverse background, taking up a top position.
The British-Lebenese journalist’s appointment as the editor of a major publication is significant at a time when finding diverse voices in leadership roles is a struggle. Roula will be the first woman and an Arab to serve as editor of the Financial Times in the publication’s history. She will take over the position in January 2020, following the farewell of long-time editor Lionel Barber who has been serving for the past 14 years.
Before being appointed as the new editor, Roula was the deputy editor of the publication. She has also worked as the foreign editor, as well as the Middle East editor for over two decades at the Financial Times. Roula has helped increase diversity in FT’s newsroom and has successfully drawn more women readers towards the Nikkei-owned publication.
The journalist has also previously worked for Forbes and completed her Master’s degree from Columbia University. She later joined FT in 1995.
With Katharine Viner serving as the editor of the Guardian, Roula, too, will join her in the list of the few women editors of major newspapers around the world.
Speaking about her appointment during an interview, Roula said, “It’s a great honor to be appointed editor of the FT, the greatest news organization in the world… I look forward to building on Lionel Barber’s extraordinary achievements.”
In a statement announcing Khalaf’s appointment, Tsuneo Kita, the chairman of Nikkei — the media company that owns FT, said, “We look forward to working closely with her to deepen our global media alliance.”
We are thrilled by the decision and look forward to finding more women in leadership positions within top publications around the world.
Diversity in all forms is the need of the hour in the journalism industry, as people from different backgrounds possess the capacity to bring forward enriching stories that otherwise escape popular narrative.
Other influential platforms must take a page out of the FT and Guardian playbook and introduce women leaders in journalism, as their voices are extraordinarily indispensable.
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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
For more information please visit www.womeninjournalism.org.
Press Inquiries: press@womeninjournalism.org
