Finnish Broadcasting Company plans to start Russian-language TV newscasts
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“The plan to start television newscasts in Russian has been on the table for quite some time now”, says Atte Jääskeläinen, editor-in-chief at YLE News.
The Green League chairwoman and Minister of Labour Tarja Cronberg called on Tuesday for more Russian-language services from the state-run Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE.
“YLE has the readiness to add to the programme supply, but it is a question of money”, Jääskeläinen says.
According to the most modest plan on the table, YLE would offer Russian-language television newscasts once or twice a day. “Even then the outlay would run into hundreds of thousands of euros”, Jääskeläinen says.
“Just last spring our programme directors decided at the very end that in the present tight economic situation we cannot afford the Russian-language TV news. Rather, the idea is to make cuts wherever possible.”
In Jääskeläinen’s view, Russian-language television news are a typical public service responsibility that belongs to YLE. “No-one else will do it.”
“There is a growing Russian-speaking minority living in the country that does not understand the news in Finnish.”
At the moment YLE offers services in Russian on radio and the Internet. The YLE Mondo channel on FM has the largest range of programmes in Russian, which can also be heard through digital television. Radio Peili and Radio 1 also offer daily newsbreaks in Russian.
Four reporters are responsible for YLE’s Russian-language radio programmes and Internet services.
At the beginning of next year, they will become part of YLE’s news operations.
According to Statistics Finland, in 2007 there were a total of roughly 173,000 people living in Finland and registered as speaking a language other than Finnish, Swedish, or Sámi as their mother-tongue.
This represented some 3.3% of the total population, and of this figure, Russian-speakers were the largest grouping, with just over 45,000 representatives. Estonian-speakers (c. 19,000) come next, and English-speakers (c. 10,600) a distant third, just ahead of Somali and Arabic-speakers.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 3.9.2008 - TODAY |
 Finnish Broadcasting Company plans to start Russian-language TV newscasts |
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