FINNISH MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

This course on Finnish media and communication system introduces the student to the history, development and the present of Finnish mass media.

The course starts with a general introduction of the media landscape in Finland and a discussion on what is communication and what are the media. Today, the study of communication is very diverse, varying from speech communication to intercultural communication, therefore it is necessary to discuss upon the basic terminology to be able to have an understanding of common grounds.

Print media is historically the oldest and still the strongest media in Finland. Finns are among the most reading people of the world after Japan and Norway. The place of print media among others is very strong by having approximately 70 per cent of the turnover according to statistics for the mass media.

Radio was introduced in Finland already in early 1920s. The amateur radio stations of the early stages opened the way to Yleisradio (YLE = Finnish Broadcasting Company), which started its first radio broadcasting in 1926. Today there are four national public service radio channels in Finnish (YLE Radio 1, Yle X, YLE Radio Suomi, Yle Q), and two in Swedish (Radio Vega, Radio Extrem); a radio network in the Sámi language, three digital radio channels; nearly 70 commercial radio stations, of which one nation-wide channel owned by Alma Media Group (Radio Nova).

TV came to Finland after the Second World War in mid 1950s. Since from the beginning there had been a mixed system of public and private broadcasting in Finland, where the Mainos-TV (commercial TV: MTV3 of today) had broadcasted in blocks within the two Yleisradio channels. At present, there are four national TV channels, of which two public service and two commercial channels. Since 2000 the digitalization of TV has started and it is expected that by the end of year 2006 all TV broadcasting would be digital in Finland.

From the 1990s onwards, with the rapid developments in communications technologies it has been possible to combine different types of media into one production. The media companies have also started doing business in several media arenas which created concentration of media under big, single conglomerates. The fifth chapter of the course on media convergence gives an overview of the changes within the media scenery of Finland starting from 1950s.

The final chapter on Information Society concentrates on the changes that the new communication technologies have brought forward.

Further readings on a brief introduction to Finnish Mass Media can be found from the following internet pages: Finnish Mass Media: High Availability, Advanced Technology written by Dr Jyrki Jyrkiäinen, The Finnish Media Landscape written by Dr Jyrki Jyrkiäinen and Finnish Mass Media (Selection) written by Dr Jyrki Jyrkiäinen (available for course participants).