Journalism in the digital era

Challenges faced within Finnish journalistic work

Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 5,0/1,0, University of Helsinki (Communications), course: Nordic Media and Communication, language: English, abstract: Finland belongs to a list of countries that Hallin and Mancini place in the group of the 'Democratic Cororatist' model. (quoted after Hovden 2009, p.149; Hujanen 2009, p. 2) The central elements of this group are high newspaper circulation, strong professionalism and state intervention. They rose from a history of 'early democratization, consensus-based governments, a history of democratic corporatism and a strong welfare state.' (quoted after Hovden 2009, p.149) These elements show clearly when taking a look at the Finnish history. Newspapers were born as political organs around 1900. 1917 Finland declared its independence and the welfare state has been built up until today. The era of newspapers as political organs ended only at the end of the 1990s and was followed by a non-political news policy. In combination to this change, in the 1950s the development of commercial media markets began and continues until today. One of the consequences of this was that the newspapers owned by media chains have to fulfil profit expectations. (Hujanen 2009, p.2) Finland has had different media eras, but the question is which cycle we are experiencing now? The media landscapes everywhere are moving, being discussed and worried about- therefore it might be the 'era of change and challenges'. Like Ann Axelsson says, 'the only certainty in our industry [the newspaper industry, A/N] is the incertitude.' (Das Magazin 2009) One major discussion focuses on the role of journalists. Therefore this essay will explore the situation in Finland, focusing on questions and developments introduced by the beginning of the so called 'digital age'. The core will consist of issues concerning newspaper journalist since the public and scientific discussions concentrate often around the possible death of newspapers and the new requirements for newspaper journalists.