IPI is conducting a fact-finding mission to Finland this week, as part of its OnTheLine project, which explores the measures media organizations are implementing in their newsrooms to cope with online attacks against journalists.
Today, IPI visited the daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, which has a rural and agricultural focus, and the evening newspaper Iltalehti, a tabloid with one of the biggest circulations in Finland. The IPI delegation also met with Arja Paananen, special correspondent at the evening newspaper Ilta-Sanomat. Here are some of the lessons we learnt from today’s meetings:
– Russian interference, immigration and asylum seekers are the topics that prompt the biggest number of vicious online attacks against journalists. In rural areas, the topics that ignite heated debate pivot around wolf hunting, agricultural subsidies, animal rights in the food industry, climate change and forestry.
– Online harassment of journalists covering immigration and asylum peaked as the number of asylum seekers saw a significant rise in Finland between 2015 and 2016. Some of the interviewees felt that while harassment remains high, it has since abated slightly.
– Most media organizations in Finland are aware that online harassment of their reporters is an issue that impacts media freedom directly. In fact, a group of editors published a statement on April 10, raising awareness about online intimidation campaigns targeting journalists:
“The harassment of those working in public professions has to be tackled. Journalists and others working openly with their own names face systematic pressure and outright threats. Lately the harassment has intensified, but current legislation has failed to stop the culprits.”
– Although seasoned journalists have developed effective coping mechanisms against harassment, both online and offline, some of the interviewees admitted that media organizations need to do more to prevent the toll that online abuse takes on journalists. This includes proper training for young reporters, who are poorly prepared to deal with online hate and intimidation at the start of their career.
The Finland mission is the second of six that IPI is conducting in Europe as part of its OnTheLine project, with the first mission being to Spain in late April. The goal is to build an open online resource centre, compiling best practices developed by media organizations to tackle online harassment, along with practical tips on how to implement the strategies.
