Appointment

Pearson PLC
5 July 2001


5 July 2001



ANDREW GOWERS APPOINTED EDITOR OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES



Andrew Gowers, currently editor of Financial Times Deutschland, will be the
new editor of the Financial Times. He succeeds Richard Lambert who, after ten
years as editor, has decided to step down from the role. Gowers will take up
his new role at the end of September.



'The spectacular growth of the Financial Times is built on the quality of its
journalism, so this is one of the most important appointments we make,' said
Marjorie Scardino, chief executive of Pearson plc.' In his ten years as
editor, Richard has played a pivotal role in transforming the FT from a UK
newspaper with an internationalist streak into the world's leading
international business newspaper. He will be a hard act to follow. We're very
lucky to have had several extraordinary people to choose from and to be able
to appoint someone of Andrew's calibre to the job.'



Gowers has been a Financial Times journalist since 1983. In 1994 he was
appointed deputy editor and, from July 1997, he was acting editor while
Richard Lambert worked from New York to launch the new US edition of the
Financial Times. In January 1999 he was appointed founding editor of Financial
Times Deutschland. Launched in February 2000, Financial Times Deutschland is
the first new national newspaper to launch in Germany for more than 20 years,
and the first non-English language newspaper to carry the FT brand. Wolfgang
Munchau and Christoph Keese, currently deputy editors of Financial Times
Deutschland, will succeed Gowers as joint editors.



Commenting on his appointment, Andrew Gowers said:



'I am thrilled and honoured. This must rank as one of the very best jobs in
journalism. The level of interest in international business, finance and
current affairs has never been greater and no one covers this ground better
than the Financial Times.  It will be a huge challenge to build on what
Richard has achieved, but we have a marvellous team with which to do it.'



After handing over the editorship, Richard Lambert will remain at the FT until
the end of the year, completing several writing projects and developing ideas
for the FT's future international and online expansion.  He then expects to
look for a new, full-time role outside the company.



'The FT is in great shape,' Richard Lambert said. 'After ten years as editor,
I have decided that it is time to move on and I'm excited by the idea of
change. I am hugely proud of our editorial team and very confident that they
will lead the FT on to even bigger and better things.'



Ends



For more information:

Luke Swanson/ Joanna Manning-Cooper            + 44 (0) 207 411 2310

John Fallon                                    + 1 212 641 2408


NOTES TO EDITORS


The appointment of a new editor of the Financial Times is made by the chief
executive of Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, after a period of careful
consultation.


Richard Lambert


Richard Lambert, 56, has been a Financial Times journalist since September
1966. He was Lex editor, financial editor, New York bureau chief and deputy
editor before succeeding Sir Geoffrey Owen as editor in 1991.



Andrew Gowers



Andrew Gowers, 43, joined Reuters as a graduate trainee in 1980. He started at
the Financial Times in 1983, working on the foreign desk in London. In 1984 he
became the agriculture correspondent and in 1985 he was appointed commodities
editor. In 1987 he became Middle East editor, in 1990 features editor and in
1992 foreign editor. He was appointed deputy editor in 1994, acting editor in
1997 and founding editor of Financial Times Deutschland in 1999.



The Financial Times 1991-2001



In 1991, average daily sales of the Financial Times newspaper were 287,000 and
two-thirds of the sales were made in the UK. In 2001, average daily sales are
more than 486,000, two-thirds outside the UK. The FT is read by more than 1.3
million people daily in 140 countries.



In 1991, there was one UK edition of the newspaper printed in London and an
international edition printed in Frankfurt, New York, Paris and Tokyo. Today
there are UK, European and US/ Asia editions, with 14 deadlines across
different time zones. The newspaper is printed in 18 cities, enabling it to
appear in the world's major business centres at the beginning of every working
day. In addition, news, comment and analysis is updated throughout the day on
FT.com, which attracts some two million unique monthly visitors and around 40
million monthly page views.



Financial Times Deutschland



Financial Times Deutschland is a joint venture between the Financial Times
Group and Gruner + Jahr, Germany's leading magazine and newspaper publisher.
The new German language business newspaper was launched in February 2000 with
a fully integrated online business news and data service. Financial Times
Deutschland already has average daily sales of more than 70,000 and attracts
two million monthly visitors to its websites.




The Financial Times Group



1.         The FT Group, one of the world's leading business information
companies, aims to provide a broad range of business information and services
to the growing audience of internationally minded business people. FT.com, the
newspaper's internet partner, combines agenda-setting editorial with relevant
financial data and discussion groups, as well as a broad range of business
tools including the largest search function on the internet.



2.         The FT Group's pan-European network of national business newspapers
and online services include France's leading business newspaper and website,
Les Echos and lesechos.fr, Spain's leading business newspaper and website,
Expansion and expansiondirecto.com, and Financial Times Deutschland.



3.            Through Interactive Data Corporation, the FT Group is one of the
world's leading sources of securities pricing and specialist financial
information to global institutional, professional and individual investors.



4.         The FT Group has a joint venture with CBSMarketWatch.com,
FTMarketWatch.com, which provides free, fast, incisive, real-time financial
and market news to Europe's rapidly growing community of private investors.
The FT Group also owns a 34% interest in CBSMarketWatch, whose web properties
(BigCharts.com and CBSMarketWatch.com) are the internet's most popular
destinations for financial market news.



5.         FT Business produces specialist information on the retail, personal
and institutional finance industries. It publishes the UK's premier personal
finance magazine, Investors Chronicle, and The Banker, Money Management and
Financial Adviser for professional advisers.



6.                  The Financial Times Group also has a stake in a number of
joint ventures, including:

-          FTSE International, a joint venture with the London Stock Exchange;

-          Vedomosti, Russia's leading business newspaper and a partnership
venture with Dow Jones and Independent Media;

-          A 50% stake in BDFM, publishers of South Africa's leading financial
newspapers and website;

-          A 50% stake in The Economist Group, which publishes the world's
leading weekly business and current affairs journal.



7.      The Financial Times Group is part of Pearson plc, the international
media company. Pearson also owns Pearson Education, the world's leading
education company; Penguin, one of the world's best-known consumer publishers;
and a 22% stake in RTL Group, Europe's leading broadcasting and production
company.