As Head of Digital Platforms at the Financial Times, Garrahan oversees one of journalism’s most successful digital transformations. His 2025 priorities include:
"The best pitches demonstrate how financial mechanisms enable cultural power – that’s where true stories live." – Garrahan, 2024 MIPCOM Keynote
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We’ve followed Matthew Garrahan’s 20-year evolution at the Financial Times with fascination. His career began in the early 2000s as Los Angeles correspondent, where he cultivated sources across Hollywood and Silicon Valley. This dual access proved prescient when he broke news about Apple’s $3bn Beats acquisition in 2014 – a story that foreshadowed tech’s growing cultural dominance.
As Global Media Editor (2015-2019), Garrahan redefined coverage of the information economy. His team exposed the Harvey Weinstein scandal’s systemic roots in media power structures, earning the 2017 British Journalism Award. The pandemic era saw him ascend to News Editor, where he engineered the FT’s COVID tracking platform – now the publication’s most-viewed project in its 135-year history.
Since 2023, as Head of Digital Platforms, Garrahan spearheads AI integration in news delivery. His team’s machine learning models for personalized paywall strategies contributed to FT’s 34% subscription growth in 2024.
This 2014 scoop exemplified Garrahan’s network-building prowess. By connecting sources in Cupertino’s boardrooms and LA’s recording studios, he revealed how Apple planned to leverage Beats’ cultural capital for its streaming ambitions. The article’s analysis predicted the "service-ification" of tech hardware – a framework now central to coverage of companies like Tesla and Meta.
The piece’s lasting impact lies in its methodology: Garrahan treated the merger as a case study in cross-industry power dynamics rather than a simple business transaction. This approach influenced how financial journalists analyze tech acquisitions today.
As news editor during the pandemic, Garrahan architectured the FT’s real-time data journalism approach. His team’s infection rate visualizations became the gold standard for public health reporting, cited by WHO briefings and 87+ governments worldwide. The tracker’s design philosophy – prioritizing mobile-first readability without compromising data density – has been adopted by Reuters and Bloomberg.
Garrahan’s editorial decision to make COVID coverage free-to-access demonstrated his understanding of journalism’s social contract. This strategy expanded FT’s global readership while maintaining subscriber growth – a case study now taught at Columbia Journalism School.
This 2021 investigation showcased Garrahan’s political acuity. By tracing Cameron’s text messages and meeting logs, the piece revealed systemic flaws in UK lobbying oversight. The fallout prompted parliamentary reforms and became a template for accountability journalism – using financial paper trails to illuminate democratic vulnerabilities.
Garrahan prioritizes stories examining how AI reshapes content creation. Successful pitches highlight specific use cases – like how local newspapers use LLMs for hyperlocal reporting – rather than generic "future of work" angles. Reference his 2024 analysis of AI-driven paywall optimization at The New York Times as a model.
With FT’s digital subscriptions surpassing 1.5 million, Garrahan seeks case studies on tiered membership programs. A recent piece on Substack’s premium podcast bundles demonstrates his interest in monetization experiments that balance accessibility and exclusivity.
His coverage of TikTok’s data governance (2023) illustrates appetite for stories bridging national security and platform economics. Effective pitches contrast regulatory approaches across jurisdictions – e.g., comparing EU’s Digital Markets Act enforcement with ASEAN’s emerging frameworks.
"Garrahan’s work reminds us that financial journalism can be both commercially viable and morally urgent." – 2024 Gerald Loeb Award Committee
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Media, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
