Journalismin maakunnallisuus. Alueellisuuden rakentuminen maakuntalehtien teksteissä ja tekijöiden puheessa

Abstract

The study explores the role of the regional voice of the Finnish press. Interest is focused on the representations of regions, regional identities, and regional communities, and on the construction of identities, and relationships between newspapers and their readerships. The approach combines media and discourse studies with studies of regions and identities. The data consists of newspaper texts and interviews with journalists. Texts from seven regional newspapers were analyzed, and 20 journalists interviewed. To capture the simultaneous constitution of representations, identities and relationships of the press with its readership, attention is focused on intertextual analysis of texts: the analysis of cultural and political regional discourses, and of regional texts as discourse types. It is worth noting that the attempts of journalism to capture the character of a region, and to express its voice, are based on its reporting of public figures operating in the fields of politics and regional government. Ordinary people are seldom given space in the regional news. This means that both cultural and political regional discourses represent regions as abstract and spatial entities, as they are seen from the viewpoint of politics and administration; instead of looking for their relevance to peoples' everyday lives. As readers are seldom represented, nor encouraged to act as citizens in journalistic texts, the reader identity which emerges in the news is often that of a bystander. Instead of the press constructing the voice of the region by reference to the judgements of public actors, the study suggests regional media should seek to create a regional public space; fora where people can take on a public role. Learning to look on the experiences of its readers as important source of social and political knowledge is also seen a challenge for journalism. Key words: regional, journalism, newspapers, news, discourse, identity, community