Survey: Strong Left-Leaning Trend Among New Journalists

According to a new survey, aspiring Finnish journalists are at least as left-leaning as their Swedish colleagues, with more than one in three voting for red-green parties.

In the new podcast Mediepanelen, influential figures from Swedish Finland’s media houses gather once a month to discuss current media issues, both nationally and internationally. The project is a collaboration between Hufvudstadsbladet, Svenska Yle, Vasabladet, and Åbo Underrättelser.

In the premiere episode, editors-in-chief discuss the survey that has sparked debate in the neighboring country, asking how the political opinions of Finnish journalism students will affect their future journalistic work — can one maintain objectivity and trust even though a majority of them vote for left-wing parties?

Last year, 1,700 journalism students from the Nordic countries answered various questions, including which party they support. 423 of these respondents were from Finland, and roughly 35 study at the Swedish-language social and municipal college in Helsinki.

The survey is not quite finished yet and is not available for public reading. However, preliminary results presented last week show that as many as 70 percent vote for either the Left Alliance, the Greens, or the Social Democrats. Only five percent vote for the National Coalition Party and one percent for the Finns Party.

The panel points out that these are journalism students and that party sympathies can look different at various times of life. They also note that if you look at students in general, regardless of field of study, the Left Alliance and Social Democrats are the biggest parties.

Another panelist claims to have noticed a different view of what journalism is among younger journalists, where there seems to be a preference for more agenda-driven work or a kind of activism, something that feels foreign to a more experienced journalist.

No Quotas

While there is often talk about the importance of including representatives from various ethnic groups and women, and the panel considers it important to have diversity to reflect society’s social, linguistic, and political diversity, they reject the idea of quotas based on political sympathies to achieve more comprehensive coverage from all perspectives.

The recurring criticism that Finland-Swedish media would favor the Swedish People’s Party, often covered due to its focus on the Swedish language, is something the panel claims does not match reality.

A similar study among professional journalists was also planned some time ago but was never conducted. Data protection regulations are said to have stopped it.

Red-Green Swedish Journalist Corps

In 2012, a widely discussed study was released showing that Swedish journalists vote red-green to a far greater extent than the Swedish public in general. As many as 41 percent of journalists in the survey from JMG at the University of Gothenburg listed the Green Party as their favorite. The next most popular party among journalists was the Left Party, followed by the Social Democrats.

At Swedish Radio, 54 percent, and at Swedish Television, 52 percent, voted for the Green Party. Altogether, the red-green parties had the support of 70 percent among journalists.