The Financial Times’ transition to a multimedia operation was a painful but necessary process, said editor Lionel Barber. The move cost 50 jobs and took a serious chunk out of staff morale but he told the Independent the stakes were high: “We had to create a platform where we could work seamlessly online and in print and meet the challenge of the digital age.” In practical terms, the move has meant more flexible hours for staff, particularly so that analysis of breaking news can be delivered quickly. It also means using the papers archive effectively to flag up related background content to a story, but Barber distinguishes online as a “lean-forward medium” and said a reactive online take would not suit “a chapter of Tolstoy”. The changes in newsroom practice were informed by FT execs who went to an IFRA consultancy in South Carolina. ”They’ve come back to Britain as digital immigrants. Suddenly we have production editors who have spent all their life in print and they’ve suddenly woken up to the wonders of the web. It has given them a whole set of new skills.” The recent launch of the FT Alphaville blog, as we noted a few days back, is the latest part of this ‘evolution’. No mention in this piece about the FT’s subscription wall which, it is rumoured, the site is considering dropping.