cultural activities
17
finnish cultural foundation
annual report 2012–2013
facts and experiences. Five months is too
short to become an expert, but it’s long
enough for you to become aware of the
topical and most pressing issues in the
various arts.”
Anne Välinoro
particularly praises
the networks she built up during the
course, and the personal reassessment
it inspired. “It also gave me heaps of new
ideas for stories.” The masterclass did not
seek to provide ready solutions; rather,
the students had to filter and process the
information themselves. It became clear
that both the lecturers and the students
had their own concepts of what constitutes
good cultural journalism.
Meanwhile, storm clouds were build-
ing up in the world outside the classroom.
While the course was in progress, a third
of the students were warned by their
employers of possible redundancy, and
the message was equally gloomy in every
quarter. When journalists are made re-
dundant, culture is at the top of the list
for cuts. Coverage has to be achieved with
fewer and fewer people. Papers are in-
creasingly sharing articles and the topics
are becoming standardised. “Look for a
job in something else,” we were advised.
Is it worth training cultural journalists
if the sun is already setting for them? Riitta
Raatikainen sees the masterclass as an
investment in Finnish culture. “We want
it to get richer and richer. One means is
insightful journalism that is able to speak
to readers.” Antti Arjava believes there
will continue to be a demand for intelli-
gent writers. So does
Markus Pirttijoki
,
editor-in-chief of the newspaper Kainuun
Sanomat. “Culture explains and reflects the
state of society. This is just as important
as it used to be, even more so now that
social media seem to take a very superficial
attitude to things.”
Right now, cultural journalism is never-
theless having to justify its existence more
convincingly than ever before.
Jaakko
Lyytinen
, head of the arts section at
Finland’s leading daily, Helsingin Sanomat,
says the ability of journalists to create ar-
resting contents that the public cannot
do without is of primary importance as
regards future resources. “A command of
content is not alone enough; we must be
able to tell people things in a way that fires
their imagination.”
Holmila believes the downhill will
not last forever. “The press has tradition-
ally been of great cultural significance in
Finland, and I believe that the media will
one day not be regarded simply as a mon-
ey-making machine.” In Lyytinen’s opinion,
the masterclass was also a message to the
media houses that cultural journalism is
worth believing in.”
The masterclass. The writer of this article, Anni Saari, is second from the left in the front row.
