Finland: The rise and fall of a democratic subsidy scheme

Abstract

In recent decades the Finnish media landscape has undergone fundamental changes. As a result of digital convergence and the fragmentation of the advertising market, news journalism has increasingly been treated as one commodity (product) among others. The ideals of democratic public interest and social values traditionally associated with news journalism have lost ground to market values. The business of journalism is thus at a crossroads: The traditional revenue streams of publishing houses are drying up as print circulations are diminishing, and advertisers are searching for alternative marketing channels to newspapers. This development has seen traditional publishing houses resorting to drastic cuts in journalistic resources. Consequently, newspapers are looking for means of scrambling for survival as the convergence of media platforms is challenging the traditional habits of consuming media content.