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FT appoints Sebastian Payne to lead digital comment initiative

The Financial Times yesterday announced the appointment of Sebastian Payne as digital comment editor to lead the redesign of the FT.com comment section and oversee the expression of FT comment across a range of digital formats and channels.

Sebastian Payne will start his new role in January 2016.

FT editor Lionel Barber commented: “Sebastian is one of the most talented digital innovators of his generation. We are thrilled he is joining the Financial Times. Our readers count among the most sophisticated and discerning in the world. This move will further strengthen the FT’s position as the leading platform for conversation and debate on the most pressing business, economic and financial issues.”

Payne added: “I am excited at the prospect of writing for the FT and helping reimagine its digital comment offering. The FT has a world-class opinion section, and I’m very much looking forward to working as part of such a great editorial team.”

Payne is currently the deputy editor of The Spectator magazine’s Coffee House blog, having previous served as online editor. In 2014 Sebastian became the 35th winner of the Laurence Stern fellowship, an annual summer internship programme for British journalists at the Washington Post.