One wonders how Sweden’s embattled migration minister, Tobias Billström, could make his “blonde, blue-eyed” comment on asylum seekers and get away with it without losing his job. Here in Finland we give prime television time to representatives of racist association like Suomen Sisu, whose views on cultural diversity don’t vary greatly from the U.S. American Nazi…
Month: March 2013
Why doesn’t YLE differentiate clearly what is news and opinion?
On Friday we saw Suomen Sisu’s new president and Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP, Olli Immonen, publish an opinion piece on YLE as “news.” YLE saw the problem and changed the heading of Immonen’s column to “opinion” from “news.” Migrant Tales published part of an email from YLE explaining that since a reader of this blog considered it…
PS far right: Hirvisaari publicly supports the Finnish Defense League
Is it a surprise that far right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP James Hirvisaari now publicly supports the Finnish Defence League, which is an offshoot of the far right English Defense League (EDL)? Not really. The EDL is the fastest-growing far right street movement in England since the National Front erupted in the 1970s. In a span…
Of Birds and Feathers: The PS, the Sweden Democrats, and Their American Bedfellows
By Barachiel “Birds of a feather flock together.” I don’t know how or if this saying applies to personal relationships, but it is true in the world of politics. And though they undoubtedly hate to admit it, the populist parties of the Nordics and Europe are not exempt. The PS’ problematic relationship with Suomen Sisu…
How ideologically similar is Suomen Sisu to the Ku Klux Klan and U.S. American Nazi Party?
While some may claim the headline to be provocative, it’s not too far off the mark. With what we already know about Suomen Sisu, is there a potential that it could evolve into a Finnish version of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and U.S. American Nazi Party? Absolutely. You can read about Suomen Sisu’s (in Finnish)…
YLE ensures that opinion pieces and news will be easily identifiable in the future
YLE emailed a Migrant Tales reader, who expressed concern Friday about an opinion piece written as news by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen. It was an odd coincidence that Immonen’s opinion piece was published in such a manner, considering that the PS MP is the new chairman of Suomen Sisu, a far right anti-immigration association. …
Case Suomen Sisu: YLE corrects mistake but remains quiet about it
The opinion piece of Suomen Sisu’s new chairman, Olli Immonen, was mistakenly published as “news” on Friday by YLE. That was later corrected by YLE, apparently after the broadcaster got a number of concerned emails from readers. The latest problem? YLE didn’t mention that it had corrected the mistake. Why is this important? Because YLE has…
YLE presents far right Suomen Sisu chairman’s opinion piece as “news”
Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) appears to have published ad verbum an opinion piece by the new Suomen Sisu president, Olli Immonen, as “news.” Nowhere in the story does it tell readers that this is an opinion piece written by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP but presents it instead as a news story, which it is not. …
Some Finnish banks require Somalis to be Finnish citizens to have access to online banking
Migrant Tales understands that employees of banks like Nordea, Osuuspankki and Handelsbanken in Kouvola and Mikkeli tell Somalis that they must be Finnish citizens in order to have access to online banking. A blog entry published in March 2012 highlighted the difficulties that stateless persons face in opening a bank account never mind gaining access to…
Länsi-Savo: Osaava ulkomainen työvoima tarpeen
Ei tarvitse mennä kauas todetakseen, että tulevaisuus on jo laskenut Etelä-Savossa: Sulkavan kunnassa 31,1 prosenttia väestöstä on eläkeläisiä ja vastaavat luvut Heinävedellä ja Puumalassa kiipeävät 30 prosenttiin. Mikkelissä asiat ovat hieman paremmin (20,3 prosenttia), mutta huonommat jos vertailemme koko maata (18,1 prosenttia). Alkuperäisen kirjoituksen voi lukea tästä. Etelä-Savo ei ole pelkästään nähnyt sen väestön ikääntymistä nopealla vauhdilla, väestökato…