Gossip magazine editor denies it was pressured on SMS issue
Media watchdog chairman defends decision to publish messages
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Esko Tulusto, editor-in-chief of the entertainment magazine Hymy, has sharply denied a rumour that he or his magazine would have been pressured to desist from publishing the content of SMS messages sent by Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva (Nat. Coalition Party) to dancer Johanna Tukiainen.
Helsingin Sanomat had heard that there had been pressure put to bear from influential quarters in the Turku region.
"I deny that. I have not received any contacts, or if something like that has been attempted, it has not reached my telephone", Tulusto said on Thursday. He added that "under no circumstances" would he be influenced by such a move.
Tulusto repeated the view that his decision to publish the messages was based on journalistic considerations, even though there are attempts to politicise the matter.
Tulusto says that Hymy will publish a "sufficient number" of Kanerva's text messages, so that the furore could be "brought to an end". He refused to disclose the content of any of them, nor would he speculate on how the publication might affect the Foreign Minister's position.
"I see the publication primarily as a journalistic duty, to bring the truth out, as naive as that may sound", Tulusto explained.
Tulusto says that he was in contact with Johanna Tukiainen a week ago, when Tukiainen sent him photographs for possible use in Hymy. He said that her application for an injunction to block the publication of the messages came as a surprise to him.
In the view of communications law expert Päivi Tiilikka, it would have been very difficult for Helsinki District Court to prevent Hymy from publishing the text messages.
"Under the constitution, everyone has the right to publish messages, information, and opinions without hindrance. The starting point of our system is that if what the publication violates the law, it is possible to hand down a punishment or order the payment of damages after the fact", she explains.
"For instance, if a minister sends messages to his partner, it falls within the bounds of protection of privacy. On the other hand, sending hundreds of text messages to someone who is not a person's regular partner can indicate significant issues on the use of power", Tiilikka ponders. "Especially if the person has sent messages before, and the messages have been made public, and the person has not learned his lesson."
Ending the furore is not seen by Tiilikka as a very good reason for publishing the messages.
"Any journalist could raise a furore and then put it down in the same way."
She nevertheless does not believe that the publication of the messages will lead to a court case.
The chairman of the Council for Mass Media in Finland, Pekka Hyvärinen, supports the decision by Hymy magazine to publish Foreign Minister Kanerva's text messages.
In an interview with the online financial publication Taloussanomat, Hyvärinen said that the messages have social significance.
"On their basis it is possible to determine if the Foreign Minister has spoken the truth. On the other hand, much information and many rumours are being circulated about them. If they are not published, the rumours will continue", Hyvärinen said.
More on this subject:
 Johanna Tukiainen: Nothing improper in Kanerva's SMS messages
National Coalition Party ponders possible reshuffle of ministers
Helsingin Sanomat
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