Sacked editor Johanna Korhonen to set up new journalist union

Johanna Korhonen

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Johanna Korhonen, whose appointment as editor-in-chief of the Rovaniemi-based newspaper Lapin Kansa was cancelled before she began her work with the paper, has set up a competitor to her former employer Suomen Journalistiliitto, SJL, the Union of Journalists in Finland.
     
Korhonen has filed with the Register of Associations to start an organisation called Suomen Journalistit (“Journalists of Finland”). Korhonen herself will be the chairwoman of the organisation.
      “It is a traditional trade union. There is a lot of work to be done for example in improving the payment structures for journalistic work. This will happen more easily through creating something new rather than fixing the old”, Korhonen told Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.
      Korhonen refuses to specify how exactly her organisation plans to operate in practice or how large membership figures it is aiming for. The active members of the organisation will convene today Thursday to start planning its operations.
     
At present the printed media, radio, and television reporters are represented by SJL, which has around 15,000 members. Until October Korhonen acted as the editor-in-chief of the SJL newspaper Journalisti.
      Korhonen left SJL when she was appointed as the new editor-in-chief of Lapin Kansa.
      When telling about changing her job, Korhonen stated that differences of opinion with the SJL leadership were not the cause of her leaving the organisation.
      In October, however, Korhonen already heavily criticised the trade organisation in the Voima periodical. Korhonen blamed SJL for being anti-democratic, secretive, and for frittering money away on recreation.
     
“The new organisation has not been designed to be an antagonist against anyone or anything. In Finland we enjoy the freedom of unionising”, Korhonen says.
      Korhonen admits that it may be difficult for the new organisation to get to negotiate over its aims because of the general binding nature of the collective labour agreement. This means in practice that the collective labour agreement applies to the entire field, regardless of whether a person belongs to a union or not.
      Depending on the method of calculation, 5,000 to 6,000 journalists fall under this autumn’s press bargaining agreement. Around 4,800 of them belong to SJL.
      In practice, therefore, Korhonen’s new organisation would have to succeed in seducing the better part of these journalists to switch sides.
     
Korhonen made headlines a couple of weeks ago when her appointment as editor-in-chief of the Rovaniemi-based newspaper Lapin Kansa was cancelled before she had even began her work with the paper.
      According to Korhonen the reason for her sacking was the fact that she lives in a registered partnership with another woman.
      According to Alma Media, the group that owns Lapin Kansa, the reason for cancelling Korhonen’s contract was lack of confidence.
      In the view of Alma Media, Korhonen had been dishonest during her job interview by not disclosing the political activities of her partner, who was running in the upcoming municipal elections in Vantaa.
     
According to Alma Media CEO Kai Telanne, the neutrality of newspaper editors requires that neither they nor their spouses should be involved in political activities.
      However, it also came to light that the spouse of at least one editor-in-chief of an Alma Media newspaper is heavily involved in local politics - and even in the city where the paper is located.
      This was not the case with Korhonen’s partner.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  New editor-in-chief dropped from newspaper, allegedly over lesbian relationship (2.10.2008)
  Sacked editor plans to demand significant damages from Alma Media (7.10.2008)
  Outgoing Lapin Kansa editor to take leave until retirement, Alma Media CEO refuses to go (6.10.2008)
  Lapin Kansa journalists demand resignation of Alma Media CEO and paper´s editor (3.10.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat