Screenshot of FT.com
The Financial Times is to introduce a new three-stage editorial process for all channels, including online, based around the principles of 'creation, crafting and completion', according to documents leaked to a file-sharing website.

An FT spokeswoman confirmed to Journalism.co.uk that the outline and FAQ of the 'Newsroom 2009' project, which involves moving to a 'web ready workflow', greater integration between print and online and more training for staff, were written for staff at the title.

As part of the plans all FT stories will be filed and edited within the web channel of the editorial content-management system (CMS), Methode, by reporters, writers and sub-editors.

The story will be updated in this channel before and after it is published, according to the document.

"This is an essential step to achieving a step-change in the richness and 'stickiness' of our online offering," it is stated.

As reported by MediaGuardian last week, under the new 'create-craft-complete' system, reporters will add hyperlinks, metadata, write draft headlines and, where stories are linked to the CMS' newspaper channel, run basic formatting checks.

"The process starts with writers/reporters, who must adopt a 'right first time' approach to their copy," it said.

According to the documents, sub-editors will edit, check and revise these elements and add multimedia and interactive features, and be responsible for revising content for print and online.

"[W]e do need to move away from treating copy editing as a single, demarcated stage in the traditional newspaper publishing process. Our aim is to change the process in a way that embeds content preparation for web and print as a priority from the earliest part of the creation process," said an FAQ on the outline.

"This is not an ideological diktat about banishing subs or subbing."

As part of the project, an early afternoon FT.com news conference will be established and the paper's interactive team will be more closely integrated with news teams.

The FT will also seek to spread multimedia skills more across desks.

"Under the create-craft-complete framework, we need to apply the highest levels of quality control in our preparation of content from the earliest point in the process. This is important as outlined above for online content, but it is equally important for the newspaper process if we are to sustain quality and tackle bottlenecks," it said.

The workflow will aim to increase the amount of copy that is ready to be revised at the completion stage without having to go through a separate sub-editing stage.

The third daily print edition will also be replaced with a later second edition to cut costs and streamline the production process, the document said.

No new redundancies will be made as part of the plan, though 10-12 positions, which have already been announced, are expected to go, the documents said.

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