Outgoing Lapin Kansa editor to take leave until retirement, Alma Media CEO refuses to go

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The controversy over the sacking of the newly appointed editor-in-chief of the Rovaniemi-based newspaper Lapin Kansa led to an announcement by outgoing editor Heikki Tuomi-Nikula said that he would go on leave until he officially retires in December.
     On Thursday he caused a stir when he said publicly that someone who is openly lesbian could not successfully carry out the duties of the newspaper.
     Tuomi-Nikula made his announcement in a column in the newspaper on Sunday.
     
The furore started when the media company Alma Media, which owns Lapin Kansa and a number of other regional newspapers in Finland, cancelled the contract of Johanna Korhonen, who had been named to replace Tuomi-Nikula.
     Korhonen alleges that the reason that she was sacked was that she is living in a registered partnership with another woman. Alma Media CEO Kai Telanne denied the accusations of discrimination, saying that the reason for the dismissal was that Korhonen had not been honest during her job interview.
     One issue that was brought up that Korhonen’s female spouse was politically active in Vantaa, which was seen to have a potentially negative impact on Korhonen’s own journalistic objectivity.
     However, it later emerged that the editor-in-chief of at least one other Alma Media newspaper has a wife who is active in local politics in the city where the paper appears.
     
Tuomi-Nikula managed to infuriate both sides of the controversy by suggesting that the mistake that Alma Media made was that it had not been sufficiently vigilant when it allowed someone who is openly lesbian to get appointed to the position.
     The comments prompted journalists at the newspaper to call for his resignation, in addition to that of Alma Media’s Kai Telanne.
     Tuomi-Nikula now says that he made a mistake when he claimed to represent all residents of Finnish Lapland with his views on lesbians.
     “If I expressed an opinion which appears prejudiced, it does not mean that it is right. But it must be permissible to say it”, said the editor who was reached by Helsingin Sanomat during an elk hunt on Sunday evening.
     He also said that he felt that the discussion raised by his comment was necessary, and that he hopes that it will promote equality. He regrets that he has been labelled a homophobe.
     “Tolerance has been the policy of Lapin Kansa all these years.”
     
Tuomi-Nikula says that the feedback that he has received was 90 per cent positive.
     What do the people praise you for?
     “For saying out loud an opinion that although we have a law (on equality), people can think differently than the letter of the law.”
     He said that the media might be giving an inaccurate view of what people think outside the Helsinki region. He also said that Lapland does not differ from other provinces, as he has received support from all over Finland.
     
On Sunday, Kai Telanne appeared on a television talk show, apologising to Alma Media and Lapin Kansa for the trouble that he had caused.
     While he admitted that Alma Media’s image had suffered significant damage, he refused to resign, saying that the only reason to do so would be if Korhonen were right in saying that she was sacked because of the gender of her partner.
     On Sunday evening Korhonen told Helsingin Sanomat that she would prepare for court action on the matter this week.
     “This is not one word against another, as has been claimed. There were three people from Alma Media, who will be required to testify under oath in the matter”, Korhonen said.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  New editor-in-chief dropped from newspaper, allegedly over lesbian relationship (2.10.2008)
  Lapin Kansa journalists demand resignation of Alma Media CEO and paper´s editor (3.10.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat