“Adagio per sortem, annales se iterum replicabant.” Before ascension, from under the rubbles, Palestinian children with a bitter smile: “In articulo mortis. Morituri te salutant (At the moment of death. Those who are about to die salute you).” From the high seat of human rights and standards Europe replies: “Mors ultima ratio (Death is the…
In a lengthy article on the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* Helsingin Sanomat reporter tells us we should not consider the PS a far-right party. The article offers a lot of sources to look at the question but the writer, Markko Jukkari, trips and falls on his face when he starts to editorialize the story. He writes: The Perussuomalaiset is…
Asmaa is a black woman born in Finland who studies at the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamx). She was adamant about why she does not trust, never mind reads, the Finnish media. She emailed a response: I don’t read Finnish newspapers and none in particular. I find them very taxing to read. Constantly, people who…
I don’t read Finnish newspapers and none in particular. I find them very taxing to read. Constantly, people who look like me are vilified, branded as the devil himself and the root cause of all problems. I have always known the correct term for an event that bothers me, and when I learned it, I…
Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me. The question is neither far-fetched nor provocative: The xenophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party has used and exploited in the past three elections of 2011, 2015, and 2019 the migrant crime theme. Understanding the success that the Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, and the Moderate Party in…
The role of the media in shaping public discourse about minorities before the April parliamentary election is evident. We saw this in the case of Oulu in 2018-2019 and its present coverage of “youth gangs” from the fall. It is disheartening that no media has challenged politicians about how they exploit a topic like “youth…
THE STORY WAS UPDATED Yle’s Viimienen sana invited three guests to talk about Finland’s alleged youth gang problem and how the media treats the topic. The three guests clearly indicated how the talk show would frame the topic. In the first place, there were no minorities taking part in the debate. All of the guests were white…
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Riikka Purra praised Ykkösaamu, claiming that it “has the best news and current affairs format in Finland, led by a professional journalist.” It is further proof of how the host, Seija Vaaherkumpa, didn’t do her job but offered journalistic lipservice to a radical right party with ties to violent groups in the…
Länsiväylä is a community newspaper that lives off advertising revenues. One story on Ukrainian refugees raking a park in Kirkonnummi, a city near Helsinki, is another chapter in framing Ukrainian refugees as “good” refugees, while similar people from the Middle East are viewed as “bad” refugees. One PS politician states: “These Ukrainians are pretty different…
Comments about the Yle television series on far-right young women, Suomineidot (Finnish Maidens), went viral, and for a good reason. Apart from revealing how much in the dark Yle is about racism and the far right, it also exposes white privilege in Finland. In a nutshell, the series is about three young women: One of…