STATEMENT Just like in the last four parliamentary elections, narratives such as migrant crime spread by the far-right anti-immigration Finns Party (PS) paid off handsomely. It is not, however, the only reason why the PS was able to win a record 46 seats but was helped by the National Coalition Party, which won the election…
Tag: Minorities
Migrant Tales Media Monitoring: An Helsingin Sanomat editorial that boosts xenophobia
There is a lot of talk and unfortunate examples of how the media helps to spread populist parties’ hateful messages about migrants and minorities. An editorial published by Helsingin Sanomat Thursday is a good example of how the media does this. The good showing of the Sweden Democrats in September’s parliamentary election is due to…
Anonymous: Do not be silent!
When you are silent, everyone does whatever they want, and you have encouraged them with your silence. Do not be silent, if someone is oppressed in your presence and you are silent, you have helped the oppressor, you have supported him with your silence. Do not be silent, speak, you distinguish good from bad, you…
A Migrant Tales style guide to writing about migration: avoid words that hide our racism and denial
After over twenty years in journalism and writing for some of the world’s most prestigious publications and having worked as a foreign correspondent in countries like Finland, Italy, Colombia, and others, I have learned a thing or two about journalistic style and correctness. On top of my journalistic experience, I am a sociologist who has…
Helsingin Sanomat editorial on the police service and media raises questions
According to a new survey on the police service, an editorial in Finland’s largest daily Helsingin Sanomat claims today that trust in the police runs high, even if the survey showed that confidence in the police had fallen by four percentage points to 91%. The editorial also puts in a favorable word for the media, which it…
Shirlene Green Newball (Part 2/3): A list of some black female writers you should read
Shirlene Green Newball* In 2011, former President Barack Obama gave Maya Angelou the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A year later, it was presented to Toni Morrison (1931-2019), an icon of the black literature in the United States of America. She was born in Lorain, Ohio, being the second of four children from a middle African…
White Finnish media story of the day*: Use words that promote inclusion and public spaces to people of color and other minorities
A headline in a Helsingin Sanomat news story about US President Donald Trump’s racist tweets to “the Squad,” four progressive women elected to congress in 2018, highlights how the media racializes non-white people in Finland. While the story uses the Finnish News Agency (STT) and AFP as sources, the copy editors at Helsingin Sanomat could…
Finland’s Nobel Prize in economics states that white Finns must not share power and privileges with migrants and their children
Bengt Holmström is a Finnish economist who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2016. What he may know about economics does not mirror his knowledge of Nordic values such as social equality and especially how migrants and minorities live in Finland.
Pressiklubi gives simplistic, apologetic view on how the Finnish media is “more balanced” today when writing about non-white Finns
It is surprising to hear how some politicians and journalists continue to have simplistic and apologetic views of racism and bigotry in this country. If YLE’s Päivi Happonen and Atte Kaleva’s words are to be believed on Pressiklubi, the Finnish media has finally woken up and writes more balanced stories about migrants and minorities that live in Finland.
The city of Kaajani, Finland, should do more to make migrants feel safe and welcome
Kaajani is a city of 37,304 people located 560 kilometers north of Helsinki. An African resident whom Migrant Tales spoke to said that she doesn’t feel safe walking alone at certain times of the day in Kajaani.