Etusivun politiikkaa : yhteiskunnallisten toimijoiden representointi suomalaisissa sanomalehtiuutisissa 1987-2003

Abstract

FL Jukka Holmbergin journalistiikan väitöskirjan ”Etusivun politiikkaa. Yhteiskunnallisten toimijoiden representointi suomalaisissa sanomalehtiuutisissa 1987-2003.” tarkastustilaisuus. Vastaväittäjänä professori Pertti Suhonen (Tampereen yliopisto) ja kustoksena professori Raimo Salokangas.Jukka Holmberg tutki puoluetaustan ja sitoutumattomuuden vaikutusta sanomalehtien pääuutissivujen politiikan uutisiin 1980-luvun lopulta 2000-luvulle tultaessa eli aikana, jolloin Suomessa siirryttiin puoluepohjaisen lehdistöjärjestelmän loppuvaiheista täysin markkinavetoiseen järjestelmään.

The research assesses the development of subjectivity and partiality in Finnish political journalism as the party press system has evolved into a fully market-based one. The primary data consist of political news articles published on the front page of Aamulehti, Helsingin Sanomat and Keskisuomalainen in the years 1987, 1995, 2001, and 2003. The news articles of these currently independent newspapers are also compared with three party papers, Demari (Suomen Sosialidemokraatti), Kansan Uutiset, and Suomenmaa.An actor treatment index derived from the model developed by Kent Asp is used to measure how the papers treated central societal actors in different years and on different political occasions. Special emphasis is placed on the partisanship found in headlining and illustration. Teun A. van Dijk’s ideas regarding discoursive structures are utilised in the case studies of six significant news events.The research evidence suggests that the degree of partiality in the political news coverage decreased from the late 1980s to early 2000s. The treatment of main political actors has become more balanced. The transition is most evident in the main non-affiliated newspapers, the change being the most pronounced in the early 1990s. However, past political affiliations as well as wider value bases are still reflected in the way the non-party newspapers focus their coverage.A newspaper’s viewpoint is manifested through various choices – which political actors are allowed a place on the front page, on which occasions and with what kind of appreciation or criticism. The discourse resulting from these choices with regard to the news content and the use of language creates a certain picture of societal action, which can either shake or support discourses used by different actors.