There are a vast number of reasons why I subscribe to the Financial Times. First and foremost, as it should be for anyone selecting a newspaper to read on a regular basis, is their outstanding coverage of what might best be called “serious news” – that is, the topics that have national or international importance and that require the reporter to do far more in-depth discovery and analysis than what has sadly become the norm among too many reporters today: simply repeating something they read on a blog or Google. Next among my many reasons would certainly be the Financial Times’ coverage of arts and culture; not the insubstantial entertainments commonly passed off today as such but vital and enduring works, performances, and publications that would be recognized as significant a hundred years ago as one hopes they will be a hundred years from now.
For these and, for the purposes of this essay, countless other reasons, I pay my yearly subscription fee and regularly find my beloved pink newspaper neatly folded into my post box (front door delivery is not available where I live). However there is one additional reason, a lagniappe (as they say in the state of Louisiana), for which, while perhaps not sufficient in and of itself to keep me as a subscriber, for which I continue to hold the “FT” in high regard: its regular inclusion of stories pertaining to bird watching.
Some time ago, a senior executive of a firm from which I then drew a paycheck asked me rather bluntly, “If there are supposed to be so many of you bird watchers around, why don’t I ever see anything about it on television or in the newspapers?” Putting television entirely aside, in regard to most major newspapers, his question was an entirely reasonable one – at least as far as the American press is concerned. Despite the multitudes of the binocular-toting tribe who regularly plod paths and groves from coast to coast in quest of their feathered quarry, for the most part they are neglected in print.
Enter the Financial Times. From frequently appearing features such as Elizabeth Rigby’s “Birdwatching in Kenya” to the surprisingly candid interview with top lister Tom Gullick, the editors of the Financial Times are without a doubt the most bird watching aware members of their profession. Even Harry Eyres, the always thought-provoking author of the regularly published “Slow Lane” column appears in his by-line photo depicted in the classic bird watching pose of an anticipated sighting, complete with binoculars ready in hand to be brought eye-ward at the first sign of avian motion.
Thus, if you are seeking extraordinarily informative coverage of the world’s truly important news stories as well as outstanding reporting of arts and culture subjects, all carefully selected and written with exquisite skill and professionalism, you are heartily encouraged to take up a subscription to the Financial Times at the first opportunity. Should you also be, like me, a member of the binocular-toting tribe, the frequent reflections of your personally favored past-time to be found in its pages will no doubt come as an additional and gratefully received treat.
