LEFT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Left-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Helsingin Sanomat Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that favor environmentalism and left-leaning social justice policy. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEFT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: Finland
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: EXCELLENT
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
In 1889, Juhani Aho, Ero Erkko, and Arvid Järnefelt launched a newspaper called Päivälehti as the organ of the nationalistic Young Finnish Party (for liberation from Russia). Its first editor-in-chief was Ero Erkko. In 1904, Päivälehti was shut down by The Russians (From 1809 until 1917, Finland was under Russian rule). Within a few days, Helsingin Sanomat (organ of the Liberal Progressive Party) was founded, replacing the abolished Päivälehti.
Helsingin Sanomat is printed in Tabloid format and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The paper covers news, entertainment, culture, science, finance, and sports, and they are known as Finland’s “newspaper of record.” The editor is Kaius Niemi.
Read our profile on Finland’s Government and Media.
Funded by / Ownership
Sanoma Corporation (formerly SanomaWSOY) owns Helsingin Sanomat, and a major shareholder of Sanoma Corporation is the original founder of Helsingin Sanomat, the Erkko Family (Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation). Susan Duinhoven is the President and CEO of Sanoma Group. For more on corporate governance and its structure, please see here, and for financial statements and reports, please see here. Helsingin Sanomat’s revenue is derived through advertising and subscription fees.
Analysis / Bias
VoxEurop (English) describes Helsingin Sanomat’s reporting as “apolitical, with essentially “straight” news reporting and close coverage of current events abroad.”
Editorially, Helsingin Sanomat strongly advocates for Climate action. They also ran a campaign selling ugly sweaters that promotes environmentalism and brings attention to social justice issues such as sexual harassment.
In review, when covering national news, Helsingin Sanomat appears to have a neutral tone towards the Center-Left PM of Finland, Sanna Marin: “In her New Year greeting to Prime Minister Sanna Marin: Finland is coping with learning new things.” They also tend to cover Jussi Halla-Aho, the leader of the Finns Party (nationalist populist right-wing party), with minimally loaded emotional language such as here.
Recently, Helsingin Sanomat was strongly criticized by Eurosceptic right-leaning Center Party MP Mikko Kärnä for publishing a full-page pro-China advertisement on Hong Kong on its front page. Helsingin Sanomat responded by stating that they also published advertisements supporting the Hong Kong protesters. The paper has also been criticized for its lack of diversity. When covering the USA, they have an anti-Trump tone as they lined billboards on Trump’s motorcade route with ads stating, “Mr. President, Welcome to the Land of Free Press.”
Regarding sourcing information, they utilize credible sources such as the New York Times, Helsinki Times, The Guardian, and BBC.
Failed Fact Checks
- None in the Last 5 years
Overall, we rate Helsingin Sanomat Left-Center biased based on editorial positions that favor environmentalism and left-leaning social justice policy. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record. (M. Huitsing 1/2/2020) Updated (03/15/2024)
Source: https://www.hs.fi/
Last Updated on March 15, 2024 by Media Bias Fact Check
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