Poll indicates newspapers most respected form of media

Claims of inexorable slide towards tabloid journalism are "illusory"

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Of the different forms of media the Finns respect their newspaper the most, a recent study commissioned by the Finnish Newspapers Association indicates.
      In the survey conducted by TNS Gallup, 81 per cent of the respondents attached the attribute “respected” to newspapers.
      The corresponding percentages for other forms of media were: television 58%, radio 44%, periodicals 22%, the Internet 14%, and free distribution papers 2%.
     
The newspapers also received the most thanks for competence, credibility, safety, responsibility, quality, and reliability.
      They were also considered to be profound and intelligent, and they were most regarded as siding with the common man.
     
The notion that people have of the late-edition tabloids (Iltalehti and Ilta-Sanomat) was asked separately.
      The respondents thought they were the best form of media to provide something to talk about, for instance over the coffee-table.
      Furthermore, they were considered to be brave, surprising, and entertaining.
      The most topical form of media was television, the most useful the Internet, and the most local the free distribution papers.
     
The Finnish Newspapers Association commissioned TNS Gallup to conduct two surveys. In one the consumers’ conceptions of various types of media were asked. In the other the readers’ views of the reliability of the dailies they were subscribing were looked into. The surveys have been conducted periodically since 1989.
      In the latest poll, 91 per cent of the respondents considered their newspaper a reliable source of information. This translates to a one %-point drop from the 2007 peak of 92%.
     
For both surveys, more than a thousand Finnish individuals over the age of 15 were personally interviewed in February-April 2008.
      At the time Finland was fussing about the text message scandal that led to the sacking of the Minister for Foreign Affairs Ilkka Kanerva.
      Other topical subjects included sexual harassment in the Finnish Parliament. An article on this topic published by Helsingin Sanomat caused the paper to be upbraided by the Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN) and prompted claims of a drift towards a more racy style of journalism.
      “There has been more talk about the role of the media than ever before. The claims that the media is somehow sliding in the direction of tabloid journalism, however, are an illusion”, was the interpretation of director Jukka Holmberg of the Finnish Newspapers Association.
      “The first terms associated with newspapers by the consumers are not adventure or entertainment. Competence, topicality, and responsibility are still the core values that guarantee the permanence of the reader-newspaper relationship”, adds Sirpa Kirjonen, another director at the association.
      According to Holmberg, the future challenge for the newspapers is the integration of the printed media and the Internet.


Links:
  Finnish Newspapers Association Press Release

Helsingin Sanomat