News-Based Public Connection in Finland: Will the Relationship Last?

• In Event: Socializing the News, Connecting to Public Issues? Exploring Audiences’ Media Practices in Four Countries

Abstract

This presentation discusses the three main findings from an empirical audience study based in Finland. According to the first finding, Finns connected to the public realm through a routine-like following of news where the distinction between “old” and “new media” proved to have little significance, as the media diets included both. Secondly, as news consumers, people seemed to be more critical and political (even if not party-political) in their interpretations than often regarded. But thirdly, it became clear that on top of this news-based and mediated public connection, there were also non-mediated and non-public forms of engagement with public issues, mostly drawn from discussions about “concerns” in everyday social networks. The presentation will re-asses the sustainability of these finings in the fast digitalizing media landscape of Finland as well as provide methodological insights for studying public connection with the help of long-term work with “naturally existing” focus groups.

Authors

• Laura Ahva, U of Tampere

• Heikki Heikkila, University of Tampere