Media
coverage versus citizen response
A research project funded by the
Department of Communication
Research
Director Prof. Ullamaija Kivikuru, Dept.
of Communication,
Researchers Minna Aslama, MSc,
Dept. of Communication, University of Helsinki, Minna.Aslama@Helsinki.Fi
Anu Kantola, Doctor
of Soc.Sci., Departmet of
Communication, University of Helsinki, Anu.Kantola@Helsinki.fi
Tuija Parikka, Doctor
of Soc.Sci., Department of Communication, University
of Helsinki and New York University, US. Tuija.Parikka@Helsinki.Fi
Inka Salovaara-Moring, Doctor
of Soc.Sci.,
Dept. of Communication,
Sanna Valtonen, Lic.Soc.Sci., Dept. of Communication,
Besides these full-time
researchers, the project had a group (8 students) of Master's students who
wrote their Master's theses on themes related to the project theme. As research
assistants, altogether 7 unemployed were used, each for a half-a-year period.
The Finnish
economic crisis of the 1990s can be seen as a major political,
economic and social crisis in
The project
focussed on three main
dimensions.
(i)
The project studied with quantitative methods the
mainstream media coverage longitudinally (1988-97). In the mainstream media,
the biggest national newspaper (Helsingin Sanomat),
four regional number-one papers (Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, Ilkka, Lapin Kansa and Karjalainen) and the public service broadcasting company
YLE television news bulletins were included, although the television side not
as systematically as the newspaper sector.
(ii)
The citizen sector comprised an analysis of opinion
polls (1988-97), qualitative theme interviews (1993-99) and school children's
essays on recession effects.
(iii)
The project analysed political elite discourses on the
recession and its causes by analysing some 70 interviews (1995-1996) of the most
important political decision-makers.
The main
results covering all the above sectors were quite depressing.
The actors in the Finnish publicity arena appeared as speaking past each other.
This past talking was not aggressive or activating, but rather passive by
character. Although the publicity as such was extensive, it rather segregated
the population than united it. Another feature typical to all the three main
sectors was that the recession appeared as an absolutely economic issue,
politics did not have much to say about it. This lead to a situation which
showed the recession like a natural disaster, a
phenomenon without alternatives.
In the national
mainstream media (Helsingin Sanomat, YLE
television news bulletins) the economic crisis was reported as a succession of
daily events rather than a process, and experts were used as sources. In the
first phase the recession was shown as an expert exercise, a phenomenon without
alternatives. When the worst phase was over, also "ordinary people"
emerged as actors in some stories. Also alternative journalistic genres
appeared in the arena first when the worst phase was over and also some
individual survival narratives passed the news threshold.
The regional
number-one papers (in fact three out of four) reacted somewhat
differently in 1994-95. They started deliberatively to report on positive
economic developments in their respective regions in order to strengthen
regional identity and financial capacity which is in the project called as
meaning marketing.
In the citizen
sector the picture was quite contradictory. In the first
round of polls and interviews from the early 1990s, people criticised the media
strongly of the fact that they did not report on the recession enough, although
the issue was found more important by the interviewees than the EU
publicity. However, a few years later comments were
much milder, there was no scapegoat hunt, and people even counted the start and
the end of the recession based on either individual experiences or media
reports. Only a few dramatic features such as people queuing bread
packages from the Salvation Army were remembered well and feared because
the did not fit within the limits of the welfare state ideology which people
appreciated. But otherwise it appeared as if the country had experienced a
heavy natural disaster and nobody wanted to think about it any more, because it
was over now. Children were kept outside the dilemma of recession as much as
possible, even if the crisis hit the family first years afterwards they
realised the causes and effects of particular phenomena. In short, people
followed the media in order to update their information about the recession,
but they did not accept the values systems offered by the media. In one respect
the media and the citizens seemed agree, however: neither viewed the recession
as a political phenomenon.
The elite
discourses analysed as part of the project gave a strongly
cynical impression on the views the political elite holds on the political
system and democracy. The economic elites experienced all the other actors of
public and political life, politicians, the media and the citizens, as ignorant
and irrational. According to the power elite, the recession could have been far
easier to get under control without the interference of these groups which were
assessed as mislead, incompetent and uninformed. A depoliticised political
regime of managerial market discipline emerged and replaced political
discussion.
Higher
examinations completed
Anu
Kantola, 2002, Markkinakuri ja managerivalta. Poliittinen hallinta Suomen 1990-luvun
talouskriisissä (Market control and
management power. The
regime of governance in the Finnish economic crisis in the 1990s). Doctoral thesis. Dept. Of Communication,
Tuija Parikka, 2004, Sexualizing
of Economic Discourse in a Finnish Daily Newspaper of the 1990s. Doctoral Thesis. Commentationes
Scientiarum
Socialicum 63.
Inka Salovaara-Moring,
2004, Media Geographies. Regional Newspaper Discourses in
Other
publications
Aslama, Minna,
Kantola, Anu, Kivikuru, Ullamaija, Parikka, Tuija, Salovaara-
Moring, Inka and Valtonen, Sanna (2001): Suomen 1990-luvun talouskriisi:
demokratian ja julkisen keskustelun koetinkivi (The economic crisis in
In Kivikuru, U. (ed.): Laman
julkisivut (The facades of the economic
recession). Helsinki: Palmenia. 2002.
Aslama, Minna, Kantola, Anu, Kivikuru, Ullamaija and Valtonen, Sanna (2001):
Politics displaced, politics replaced. Elites's and
citizens' talk on the
economic crisis. In Jorma Kalela, Jaakko Kiander, Ullamaija Kivikuru, Heikki
A. Loikkanen and Jussi Simpura (eds.): 1990s Economic Crisis, The Research
Programme on the Economic Crisis of the 1990s in
heavens, up from the ashes, The Finnish economic crisis of the 1990s in the
light of economic and social research. VATT Publications 27:6. Government
Institute for Economic Research and The
Aslama, Minna and Kivikuru, Ullamaija (2001): Lamajulkisuuden raamit:
suomalainen mediamaisema
1990-luvulla (The frames of recession publicity:
the Finnish mediascape in the 1990s). In Kivikuru,U. (ed.): Laman julkisivut
(The facades of the economic recession).
Aslama, Minna, Kivikuru, Ullamaija, Moring, Inka, Parikka,
Tuija and
Valtonen, Sanna (2001):
Mediated Economic Reality or Aching Spots of Civic
Society. In Jorma Kalela, Jaakko Kiander, Ullamaija Kivikuru, Heikki A.
Loikkanen and Jussi Simpura (eds.): 1990s Economic Crisis, The Research
Programme on the Economic Crisis of the 1990s in
heavens, up from the ashes, The Finnish economic crisis of the 1990s in the
light of economic and social research. VATT Publications 27:6. Government
Institute for Economic Research and The
Aslama, Minna, Kivikuru, Ullamaija
& Valtonen, Sanna (2001): Lamakansan
kartat. Kolme näkökulmaa kokemuksiin talouskriisistä (The maps of the
recession people. Three perspectives to the experience of the economic
crisis). In Kivikuru, U. (ed.): Laman julkisivut (The facades of
the
economic recession). Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Aslama, Minna and Valtonen, Sanna (2000):
Mediakriisistä kansalaisten
kriiseihin eli kuinka lähestyä puhetta kriisistä ja medioista
(From media
crises to citizen crises. How to approach
talk on crisis and media). In
Levo-Henriksson, Ritva and Ampuja, Marko (eds.): Media ja me (Media and us).
Aslama, Minna and Valtonen, Sanna (2001): Under Bad
Weather. Or How to
approach the Citizen's Talk about the Economic Recession of the 90s. In
Kivikuru, Ullamaija and Savolainen, Tarja (eds.): The
Politics of Public
Issues. Helsinki: Department of Communication, University of Helsinki.
Julkaisu 5.
Aslama, Minna and Valtonen, Sanna (2001): Laman
mittakaavat. Suomen
1990-luvun talouskriisi, kansalaisten kokemukset ja tutkimuksen asemat (The
scale of recession. The Finnish economic crisis in the 1990s, citizen
experience and the positions of research). Tiedotustutkimus 4/2001.
Kantola, Anu (1999): Talouspoliittiset eliitit ja
päätöksenteko
julkisuudessa. In Moring, Inka, Parikka, Tuija, Valtonen, Sanna, Aslama,
Minna, Kantola, Anu and Kivikuru, Ullamaija (eds.): Mediakriisi. Lehdistö,
lama ja talouspuhe. Helsingin yliopisto, Viestinnän laitos, sarja
2A/1/1999.
Kantola, Anu (2001):
Leaving Public Places - Antipolitical and Antipublic
Forces of the Transnational Economy. Javnost vol. 8(2001), 1, 59-74.
Kantola, Anu (2001): Power Talk. Institutionalising
political authority in
the Finnish economic crisis. In Kivikuru, Ullamaija and Savolainen, Tarja
(eds.): The Politics of Public Issues. Helsinki:
Department of
Communication, University of
Helsinki. Julkaisu 5.
Kantola, Anu (2001): Se keskustelu jäi käymättä. Poliittinen eliitti ja
talouskriisin julkisuus (That discussion never took place. The political
elite and the publicity of the economic crisis). In Kivikuru, Ullamaija
(toim.): Laman julkisivut. Helsinki: Palmenia.
Kantola, Anu (2002): Suomi taisteli, numerot eivät kertoneet. päätöksenteko 1990-luvun
talouskriisissä (Finland fought,
the figures did
not tell. Political decision-making in the economic crisis in the 1990s).
In Forsberg, Tuomas,
Pursiainen, Christer, Lintonen, Raimo,Visuri, Pekka (toim.) Suomi ja kriisit.
Kantola, Anu (2003) Loyalties in flux: The changing
politics of citizenship.
European Journal of Cultural Studies Vol 6(2),
203-217.
Kivikuru, Ullamaija (2001): Media coverage versus citizen response.
In
Kivikuru, U. & Savolainen,
T. (eds.): The Politics of Public Issues.
Publications of the Department of Communication, Publication
No 5.
Kivikuru, Ullamaija (2001):
media in pre, core and post recession
T. (eds.): The Politics of Public Issues. Publications of the
Department of
Communication, Publication No 5.
Kivikuru, Ullamaija (2001): Laman jäljillä (Tracing down recession).
Tiedotustutkimus 4/2001.
Kivikuru, Ullamaija (toim.) (2002): Laman julkisivut
(The facades of the
economic recession).
Kivikuru, Ullamaija and Tarja Savolainen (eds.) (2001):
The Politics of
Public Issues.
Koski, Maija (2001): Kun poliitikot pudotettiin jalustalta.
Kansalaisnäkökulma politiikkaan vuosituhannen vaihteen
Suomessa. In
Kivikuru, Ullamaija (toim.): Laman julkisivut. Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Moring, Inka (1999): Space and Politics
of Identity. National
Landscapes in
a Finnish Film and How they were portrayed in Media. Intexto. Revista de
mestrado da communicacco, Vol. 5/1999. www.ilea.ufrgs.br/intexto/
Moring, Inka (1999): Alueellinen ääni ja lamajulkisuuden
kehitys.
Talouskriisi alueellisissa sanomalehdissd. In
Moring, I. et al. (eds.):
Mediakriisi. Lehdistö, lama ja talouspuhe. Viestinnän
laitos, sarja
2A/1/1999. Helsingin yliopisto.
Moring, Inka (1999): Scales
of Space, Place and Money. Discursive Landscapes
of Regional Inertia, Identity and Economical Change. Special
Issue of
Nordicom Review. Vol. 21: 2, Nordicom:
Moring, Inka (2000): Heimojen maa? Paikallistamisen politiikka ja
identiteetti alueellisissa lehdissd. In Tapper, H.
(ed.): Me median
maisemissa. Reflektioita identiteettiin ja mediaan (We in the media
landscape. Reflections
on identity and the media). Helsinki: Palmenia.
s.80-114.
Moring, Inka (2000): Kotimaani ompi? Kotimaa, suomalaisuus ja alueelliset
hierarkiat (Is this my homeland? Homeland, Finnishness and regional
hierarchies). Journalismikritiikin vuosikirja 2000 (Yearbook of journalism
criticism). Tiedotustutkimus 1/2000.
Moring, Inka (2001): Space
and Politics of Identity. Imaginary Landscapes
and Ideological Reproduction of 'we'. In Kivikuru,
Ullamaija (ed.): ID.
Nordicom
Publications,
Moring, Inka (2001):
Symbolic Geography of Media - Identity Formation and
Meaning Marketing in Finnish Regional Press. In Ullamaija
Kivikuru and
Savolainen, Tarja (eds.):
Studying Public Issues.
Viestinndn
laitoksen julkaisu 5.
Moring, Inka (2001):
Between East and West - Journalistic Meaning Marketing
in Finnish Regional Press. In Antonis Skamnakis (ed.): Regional Media in
Moring, Inka, Parikka, Tuija, Valtonen, Sanna, Aslama,
Minna, Kantola, Anu
and Kivikuru, Ullamaija (1999): Mediakriisi. Lehdistö, lama ja talouspuhe
(Media crisis: The press, recession and economy talk). Helsinki: Helsingin
Yliopisto, Viestinndn laitos, sarja 2A/1/1999.
Moring, Inka and Valtonen, Sanna (1999): Manhattanin tribalistin
paluu:
journalismi, juuret ja yhteisv (The return of Manhattan tribalism:
journalism, roots and the community). Tiedotustutkimus 4/1999.
Parikka, Tuija (1999): Naisten talouskriisi. Hyvinvoinnin sukupuoli ja
kansalaisuus 90-luvulla. In Moring,
I. et al. (eds.): Mediakriisi. Lehdistö,
lama ja talouspuhe (Media
crisis: The press, recession and economy talk).
Parikka, Tuija (2001): Subjectification of the Unemployed in the 90's
Unemployed Women and Men. In Ullamaija Kivikuru & Tarja Savolainen (eds.):
The Politics of Public Issues. Helsinki:
Department of Communication,
University of Helsinki. Viestinndn
julkaisuja 5. 2001.
Parikka, Tuija (2001): Naisten vuosikymmen. 1990-luvun
lama ja sukupuoli
Helsingin Sanomien tasa-arvo- ja hyvinvointipoliittisissa keskusteluissa
(The decade of women.
The economic recession and equality in the discussions
published by Helsingin Sanomat). In Kivikuru. U. (ed.): Laman julkisivut
(The facades of the economic recession). Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Parikka, Tuija (2001): Muistoja lamajulkisuuden reunalta.
Pitkäaikaistyöttömien nais- ja mieskansalaisten muistelupuhetta lamasta
ja
mediajulkisuudesta (Memories on the
fringe of crisis publicity. Memory talk
on recession and the media by long-term unemployed, women and men). In
Kivikuru. U. (ed.): Laman
julkisivut (The facades of the economic
recession). Helsinki: Palmenia.
Tuija
Parikka, 2004, Naiset, talous ja subjektius.
Talousdiskurssin
sukupuolisoituminen 1990-luvun Helsingin Sanomissa.
Naistutkimus 4/2004.
Tuija Parikka, 2003, Yhteisöllisyys ei yksin riitä’ in Malmelin,
Nando
(ed.) Välittämisen tiede. Viestinnän näkökulmia yhteiskuntaan,
kulttuuriin
ja kansalaisuuteen. Professori Ullamaija
Kivikurun juhlakirja. Helsinki:
University of Helsinki, Department
of Communication, publications:
8.
Tuija Parikka, 2000, Syrjäytymisen vai syrjäyttämisen ääniä?
Pitkäaikaistyöttömät naiset, miehet ja lama-ajan
mediamuistot.
Taloustutkijoiden XVII kesäseminaari 14.-15.6.2000,
Jyväskylä.
Tuija
Parikka, 2000, Kumppanuutta ja kaupankäyntiä. Hyvinvoinnin sukupuoli
Helsingin Sanomissa 1988-1997 (Companionship
and trade. The gender of
welfare in Helsingin Sanomat 1988-1997). Licentiate thesis, Dept. of
Communication,
Pehrman, Katja (2001): Työn kasvot Helsingin
sanomissa vuosina 1989, 1993,
1995 ja 1997. In Kivikuru. U.
(ed.): Laman julkisivut
(The facades of the
economic recession). Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Raittila, Laura (2001): Ekan joutsenlaulu.
Televisiouutisten raportointi
Ekan säästökassan romahduksesta. In Kivikuru. U. (ed.): Laman julkisivut
(The facades of the economic recession). Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Renvall, Mika & Valtonen, Sanna (1999): Miten sosiaaliturvan väärinkäytöstä
puhuttiin julkisuudessa (How the publicity
discussed misuse of social
security?) In Hellsten, Katri & Uusitalo, Hannu (eds.) Näkökulmia
sosiaaliturvan väärinkäyttöön (Perspectives to misuse of social security).
Raportteja 245, Stakes, Helsinki.
Salovaara-Moring, Inka (2001): Toivon ja lohdun
maisemissa. Talouskriisi,
alueellisuus ja merkitysten talous (In the
landscape of hope and comfort.
The economic crisis, regionalism and the economy of
meanings).
Tiedotustutkimus 4, 2001.
Salovaara-Moring, Inka (2001): Laman neljä
ilmansuuntaa. Median maantiede ja
alueellinen julkisuus (The four directions of the recession.
The geography
of media and the regional publicity). In Kivikuru, U. (ed.): Laman
julkisivut. Helsinki:
Palmenia.
Valtonen, Sanna (1998): Hyvä, Paha media.
Diskurssianalyysi kriittisen
mediatutkimuksen menetelmänä (The good
and bad media. Discourse
analysis as
a method in critical media research). In Kantola & al. (eds.):
Media-analyysi. Tekstistd tulkintaan. Palmenia, Helsinki.
Valtonen, Sanna (1999): Työn ja työttömyyden tarinoita Helsingin Sanomissa
1988-1997 (Stories on work
and unemployment in Helsingin Sanomat
1988-1997). In Moring, Inka et al. (eds.):
Mediakriisi. Lehdistö, lama ja
talouspuhe. Viestinnän laitos, Sarja 1
A/1999.
Valtonen, Sanna (1999):
a Talk Show. Nordicom Information
4/1999.
Valtonen, Sanna (2000): Mikäd suomalaisissa on
vikana? Tapaus
työttömyysaiheisten kirjoitusten kansallisesta ulottuvuudesta
(What is wrong
in the Finns? The
dimension of nationalism in writings about unemployment).
In Tapper,
ja mediaan. Helsinki: Palmenia.
Valtonen, Sanna (2000): Monitoring Media Crisis. Writing about
unemployment
in Helsingin Sanomat 19881997. Nordicom Review 21:2.
Valtonen, Sanna (2001):
Tracing the national Us from TV talk. In Kivikuru,
Ullamaija (ed.): Contesting the Frontiers. Media and Dimensions
of Identity.
Nordicom, Göteborg.
Valtonen, Sanna (2001): Ei haluta leimautua edes työttömän sukulaiseksi.
Työttömyys ja pääsyn
politiikka Helsingin Sanomien
lamajulkisuudessa (People
do not want to be named even as relatives of the unemployed. Unemployment
and the politics of access in the publicity of the recession in Helsingin
Sanomat). In Kivikuru, U. (ed.): Laman julkisivut. Helsinki: Palmenia.
Valtonen, Sanna ja Renvall, Mika (2000): Miten sinä rankaisisit
Sosiaalitukihuijareita (How would
you punish swinders of social security)?
Journalismikritiikin vuosikirja (Yearbook of media criticism)/
Tiedotustutkimus 1/2000.
Sanna Valtonen, 1998, Työ teksteissä, tekstit
talouskriisissä.
Tausta-ajatuksia mediatekstien
kriittiseen analyysiin
(Work in texts, texts
in economic crisis. Perspectives to
a critical analysis of media texts).
Licentiate thesis, Dept. of Communication, University of Helsinki.
Maija Koski, 2001,
Poliittinen julkisuus kriisissä? Kansalaisnäkökulma
poliittisen mediajulkisuuden muutoksiin vuosituhannen vaihteen Suomessa.
Viestinndn pro gradu tutkielma, Helsingin
yliopisto.
Laura Raittila, 2001, Ekan joutsenlaulu
Televisiouutisten raportointi Ekan
romahduksesta. Viestinnän pro gradu tutkielma, Helsingin
yliopisto.
Miia Savaspuro, 2002, Talousjournalismin oppikoulu. Toimittajien
lähdekäytännöt ja suhde valtaeliittiin Suomen 1990-luvun laman aikana.
Viestinnän pro gradu tutkielma, Helsingin yliopisto.
Scientific presentations
Kantola, Anu:
Eliittien yksinäisyys - miten päättäjät selvisivät lamasta?
Laman pitkä varjo (Elites in solitude how
did the decision-makers come out
of the recession?). Suomen
1990-luvun talouskriisi -tutkimusohjelman
seminaari Laman pitkä varjo 13.4.2000, Helsinki.
Kantola, Anu: Managers in Solitude Finnish
political elites at the time of
market liberalization. Taloustutkijoiden XVII kesdseminaari 14.-15.6.2000,
Jyväskylä.
Kantola, Anu: Institutions
of Powerlessness Political managerialism
at the
time of market liberalization. The
Crossroads Conference 21.-25.6.2000,
Birmingham.
Kantola, Anu: Sukupolveni unta Millaista on
elämä edistyksen jälkeen?
(Dreams of my generation how is the life
after progress?) Edistyksen
päivät
27.-28.10.2000, Tampere.
Kantola, Anu: Yksityistyvä julkisuus Katoavatko
yhteiset tilat? (The
privatisation of the public sphere are the public places going to
disappear?) Yleisradion televisiouutisten seminaari
10.11.2000,
Kantola, Anu: Leaving
Public Life - The antipolitics of the Finnish public
sphere in transnational times. The need and possibility
of a transnational
public sphere: European experiences and challenges seminar by the Journalism
Research and Development Centre of the University of Tampere
and the
European Institute for Communication and Culture 13.1.2001, Tampere.
Kantola, Anu: Mitä politiikka voi ja voiko se mitään? Suomalaisen politiikan
muutos talouskriisissd
1991-1995 (What can politics do and does it it? The
breach of finnish politics
under the recession 1991-1995). Tutkaksen
seminaari Eduskunnassa 14.2.2001, Helsinki.
Kantola, Anu: Mikä tekee taloudesta menestyvän? (What makes the
economy to
flourish?) Pellervon
päivät 25.4.2001, Helsinki.
Kantola, Anu: Poliittisen vallan puhe 1990-luvulla. Laman
opetukset (The
talk of the political power. The lessons of the recession). Suomen
1990-luvun talouskriisi tutkimusohjelman päätöskonferenssi Laman opetukset
1.11.2001, Helsinki.
Moring, Inka: One nation,many mediascapes.
Signification of mediaproducts in
ideoscapes of Finnish Communities. Baltic Summer School for Mass Media
Research August 1997,
Moring, Inka: Teksti ja paikallistamisen politiikka. The
national media
research conference, 2000,
Moring, Inka: National Schizhoprenia - Borderland Discourses in Finnish
Media. Third Crossroads in Cultural Studies, 2000,
Moring, Inka: Mediated
Space, Place and Power - Discursive Identity
Landscapes of East and West. Global Village or Global Image?
Inaugural
International Media Conference. Representing Diversity
and Difference 24-27
July 2001,
Valtonen, Sanna: Discourses
of Work. The second Nordic Baltic Summer School
for Mass Communication Research, 1997, Jyvdskylä and Laulasmaa.
Valtonen, Sanna: Working
citizenship? Changing discourses of citizenship in
recession. The 21st Scientific Conference and General Assembly of the IAMCR,
1999, Glasgow.
Valtonen, Sanna:
identity in the media. The seminar Citizenship and/in
journalism - mapping
the problems and possibilities, 1999,
Valtonen, Sanna: Stories of
work, stories of recession. The 14th Nordic
conference for media och communication research,
1999,
Valtonen, Sanna and Aslama, Minna: In the Search for
Dialogue between CA and
CDA. The 13th Nordic conference for mass communication research, 1997,
Jyvdskylä.
Valtonen, Sanna and Aslama, Minna: Under Bad Weather.
Or How to Approach
"Citizens' Talk" About the Economic Recession and the Media.
The 3rd
International Crossroads in Cultural studies, 2000,
Publications