THE STORY WAS UPDATED
When my wife told me about Tuesday’s A-studio talk show, my instant reaction was who the host was. With some dread, I found out that Marja Sannikka hosted the show. The A-studio host has made a name for herself on her shows by labeling and victimizing asylum seekers and minorities.
The latest incident was on Tuesday when Sannikka didn’t object to the PS guest, Simo Grönroos, a far-right Suomen Sisu association member, using the word “harmful” immigration. The PS is the only party in Finland that uses the derogatory term to label and victimize certain groups like Muslims and Africans.
One approach to such a toxic description of asylum seekers and migrants is if people can be placed into good and bad groups. Other favorites of the PS in their quest to tar-and-feather certain migrants are “cheap labor” and “social welfare migrants,” among others.
We believe each migrant is an individual, and labeling them in groups and subgroups is racist.
Source: Twitter
Here are some of Sannikka’s talk show “hits:”
- Perussuomalaiset’s (PS)* Simo Grönroos labels particular asylum seekers (not Ukrainians) as “harmful migrants.” The PS is the only party that uses such a derogatory term. Sannikka did nothing to stop or question Grönroos’s use of the term but asked her guests what they thought about “harmful” migrants. May 9, 2023
- PS MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, convicted three times for ethnic agitation, was invited to host Sannikka’s A-studio to talk about freedom of expression, ethnic agitation, and burning the Quran.
- Sannikka helped spread fear in Finland about minority youth gang violence. She introduced the topic like a crime thriller:“ Knives, violence, revenge. Youth gang violence increases at a worrying pace (sic!). October 25, 2022
- Guest Esko Valtaoja used the n-word twice on her talk show without any objections from Sannikka (see caption below). November 21, 2021 While she said nothing on her talk show, she later apologized for the n-word incident.
Source: European Islamophobia Report 2021.
Far-right parties like the PS see immigration on a high exclusive horse.
If Grönroos and his party had their way, it would mean trouble and hardship to migrants and minorities living in Finland and inject more anger into Finland’s hostile environment.
Some claim that if the National Coalition Party, PS, the Swedish People’s Party, and the Christian Democrats form a coalition, it will be the most right-wing government in a hundred years. Apart from the latter, it would be the most anti-immigration government we’ve seen in a long time.
CORRECTION: We incorrectly stated Sannikka’s first name incorrectly. It is Marja, not Merja.
