The Financial Times has certainly moved with the times since the newspaper's launch as "the friend of the honest financier" in 1888.
Indeed, today's four-edition global brand, with its bloggers who attract a cult following from Canary Wharf to China, is almost unrecognisable from that of 18 months ago, when chief executive John Ridding moved into the top job.
The past year's developments included the refurbishment of the London newsroom, the refresh of the daily and weekend editions, new revenue streams such as content sales, and the merger with specialist publishing arm FT Business.
The FT also introduced a 30% price rise in June - the first in five years - and, despite the new £1.30 cover price, the paper recorded a November ABC of 444,880 copies, up 2.75% year on year, of which UK circulation was 142,187 copies.
"The FT had an intense but rewarding 2007," says Ridding. "We have gathered strong momentum; the print and digital engines have both been firing really well."
The 12 months culminated with the FT being named Newspaper of the the Year in the What The Papers Say awards.
Ridding's principal strategy has been to position FT.com at the heart of the business. His first move was to appoint Ien Cheng as both publisher and managing editor so that sales, IT, editorial and marketing move "in parallel rather than in sequence".
Deeper engagement
He has also created a strategic sales unit, led by Jon Slade, which has given the FT "a much deeper level of engagement" with clients. The division sells advertising across print, online, events, conferences and awards, such as the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Awards and the Citigroup Global Environmental Awards.
"One of the most exciting and rewarding" of the FT's many ventures, says Ridding, is the dedicated video operation, which produces 100 videos a month. These range from news updates and special reports -such as the diary-style footage of China's Three Gorges Dam, to the View From the Top interviews with global business chiefs.
All have proved a hit with advertisers: Deloitte and Marsh & McLennan are both recent video sponsors. Ridding says: "Video works from a business perspective because you can charge much higher rates; it gives us access to TV budgets."
But the most radical change to FT.com was the move to the new charging system in mid-October. Users have access to 30 stories for free before the subscription process kicks in, with a "light touch" registration required after five stories.
Ridding regards the FT's online strategy - a "third way" between ad-funded and subscription-based models - as "a giant funnel that is constantly filled by the wave machines of internet traffic". He says: "Some people will pass through, some will register and some will subscribe. It is a constantly self-refreshing model."
Although the FT's dotcom business is still small compared to its print business - online is thought to contribute around 10% of the FT's total revenues - FT.com has grown sharply over the past year. As of 11 December, ad revenues were up 40% for the year, unique users were up 59% and the site had a total of 101,000 subscribers.
It would be easy to attribute the move away from a full subscription model to a response to the rumours that Rupert Murdoch is planning to make content free on The Wall Street Journal website wsj.com, following his takeover of Dow Jones. However, Ridding stresses the strategy was planned "even before Dow Jones was a twinkle in Murdoch's eye".
Audience focus
Moreover, he claims that "the world has moved on from a binary showdown" between the WSJ and the FT, and that the fragmentation of media means that success must come from being "focused on your audience and sticking to what you do best".
In the FT's case, this means providing must-have information for people who care about international business. "Stories such as Northern Rock or the global credit crisis affect everybody, whether you are a mortgage holder in Yorkshire or a banker in Stockholm," Ridding says.
Ridding was born in Birmingham, moving to Malaysia when he was seven and later to London, Korea, Paris and Hong Kong, where he worked on the launch of FT Asia and on FTChinese.com. He empathises with the FT's internationally minded readership. Blogger Lucy Kellaway is as popular on FTChinese.com as she is on the London site, where she receives more than 400 postings per entry.
The FT plans to expand its global audience through the relaunch of FT.com, to be rolled out from the middle of the year, "significant enhancements" to the Weekend FT and increased presence in the Gulf and India. So, if 2007 was "intense but rewarding", Ridding predicts 2008 will be similarly eventful. He adds, with understatement: "I think 2008 is going to be pretty busy."
CV
2006: Chief executive, Financial Times 2003 Publisher, FT Asia and chairman, Pearson
2001: Deputy editor, FT
1999: Managing editor, FT
1998: Deputy managing editor, FT
1995: Paris correspondent, FT
1994: Deputy features editor, FT
1991: Korea correspondent, FT
1990: UK companies reporter, FT
1988: World desk reporter, FT