Abstract
This study examines news articles written by 15 immigrant background journalists during their newsroom internships in Finland. The data consists of about 150 stories that were produced during the internship. Through qualitative content analysis, I examine what kinds of topics, which sources and what kinds of angles the interns chose in their reporting. In addition, I also examine the storytelling of the news stories produced during the internship. My research question is: What unique contributions can journalists with immigrant backgrounds bring to journalism? Preliminary findings suggest that interns’ stories differ significantly from conventional Finnish news stories in terms of topics and sources. The voices of ethnic minorities appear to be particularly emphasized. The data reveals that these journalists tend to prioritize sources with lived experiences, contrasting with the Finnish journalistic tradition, which heavily relies on elite sources such as government and political actors (Seuri et al. 2024, 203). This tendency may derive from the interns’ backgrounds in fragile democracies, where trust in public institutions is low (Hanitzsch & Berganza 2012, 797). Furthermore, storytelling seems to differ from the traditional Finnish news story. Previous research has noted that minority journalists sometimes describe their storytelling style as “long-winding” or “circular”, differing from Western conventions (Thomas 2024, 1666). The study highlights how non-native journalists can enrich Finnish journalism by broadening the range of topics, perspectives and sources, as well as introducing new storytelling structures. It analyses the potential of immigrant background journalists to diversify and deepen news reporting in Finland.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CONTENT DIVERSITY, NEWS DIVERSITY, CONTENT ANALYSIS
