Most Finnish Journalism Students Lean Toward the Ultra-Liberal Far Left

Finnish journalist Sanna Ukkola published on social media results from the not-yet officially released Nordic Journalism Students 2025 survey. According to it, among “Finnish journalism students” studying at university, 78 percent vote for left-wing parties (Left Alliance 44%, Greens 20%, Social Democrats 14%).

If—and assuming—the figures reflect reality, the outlook for the future of Finnish journalism is bleak. To understand this, one must note that 64 percent of future journalists support—not just the left in general, but an ultra-liberal far-left in terms of values, namely the Left Alliance and the Greens.

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Of course, it has already been known that the ideological outlook of Finnish journalism students leans politically to the left. However, I had not previously understood the students’ attraction to outright far-left ideology, which has left a rather dark footprint in both Finnish and global history.

It may, of course, be that not all journalism students—and even those who have already graduated—are familiar with the roots of the ideology they support, or they imagine that today’s green-left somehow differs from its historical predecessors. And thus they act more like—borrowing a term attributed to Lenin—“useful idiots,” who believe they are acting morally right, while in reality they are fighting for an Orwellian society.

This is also reflected in the fact that many journalists, instead of striving for impartial journalism, want to steer people’s opinions and change the world in the direction they prefer. For some, the desire to influence public opinion has even been a central reason for becoming a journalist.

This situation is, of course, unfortunate for these students, for the people who read and listen to the results of their work, and for the future of Finnish society. This remains the case despite the fact that, with age, some journalists come to realize they had supported totalitarian ideas and move away from the far-left camp. But unfortunately, only some do.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
When Free Speech Is Prosecuted: Päivi Räsänen’s Case Explained for Americans
Is Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle Using Taxpayer Money to Mislead?
Terrorism Landscape in the EU Contradicts the Narrative Presented by EU Politicians and Media

Finnish Immigration Policy Limits Freedom of Expression

According to the national security review published by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service on Tuesday, homeschooling may, in the long run, increase security threats related to the fragmentation of society. This risk is heightened by the fact that it is extremely difficult for authorities to monitor the teaching that takes place in homeschooling and in informal homeschooling institutions.

The parliamentary parties also share concern about these security threats. Their proposed solutions range from more effective oversight of homeschooling to an unambiguous compulsory school attendance requirement, with exceptions granted only for extremely compelling reasons.

It is therefore likely that the next government programme will include more or less radical restrictions on children’s homeschooling. At the same time, this would reduce people’s freedom of choice regarding the upbringing of their children.

In practice, this change is occurring as a result of the immigration policy pursued in Finland, because it has brought both radical Islamism and—partly as a reaction to it, as well as to other forms of “wokeism”—far-right extremism into our society. According to the head of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, Juha Martelius, these are precisely the kinds of undesirable phenomena that are increasingly being promoted in homeschooling environments.

It remains to be seen, however, how well the negative impact of immigration on people’s freedom will be recognized in Finnish public debate. That is, on the constitutional right which states that “everyone has the right to life, personal liberty, integrity and security.”

The debate about compulsory schooling described above is, of course, only part of this process. It is also connected to, for example, threats and fears related to safety—especially for women but also for young people—as well as restrictions on freedom of speech in accordance with an Orwellian understanding of language.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Jimmie Åkesson Is Sweden’s Most Widely Accepted Politician
On Freedom, Debate, and the Murder of Charlie Kirk
Finally, Honest Reporting on Immigration and Crime

The original blogpost in Finnish:
Maahanmuuttopolitiikka rajoittaa ihmisten valinnanvapautta

Orwellian Big Brother monitors journalists of Finland's Public Broadcasting Company Yle

The Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat heard from a long-time journalist of the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company Yle that it is problematic for them that his articles feature "too many heterosexual men". When asked about this, the Ilta-Sanomat journalist discovered that our publicly funded media records not only the gender, age, skin color, and social status of interviewees but also what kinds of thoughts or bodies they have.

Subsequently, Yle's editor-in-chief Jouko Jokinen tries his best in the Ilta-Sanomat article to explain away the image of the company’s operations that the interviewer—and ultimately the reader—might have formed. The article also reveals that Yle systematically collects statistics on the content of journalists' articles.

These are "basic things that can be automatically identified by text analysis and whose tracking is ethical. What topics we cover, how they are geographically distributed, who are the most interviewed individuals, what gender they represent, what the most used titles are, which political parties are most frequently mentioned, and so on."

And finally, the development manager of Yle then—perhaps unwittingly—reveals that "we are trying to diversify our content. Nowadays, we discuss a lot in our editorial offices, for example, whether it is always privileged people who speak for us. There are many underrepresented groups that do not have a voice in society."

In other words, confirming that our tax-funded media operates like an Orwellian big brother, whose duties include collecting data based on which even long-time Yle journalists can be presented with "ratings on the table" if they have interviewed people from so-called underrepresented groups too infrequently.

After reading the article, I was left wondering if such an Orwellian big brother is really the kind of service that Finnish taxpayers want to fund. Or perhaps they would prefer that the money be used for something entirely different—either within Yle or in other sectors of society.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finnish journalist called for British Prime Minister´s head to be placed on London bridge to dry
Racism or self-preservation instinct?
Nightwish and the Disney Company

Nightwish and the Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company has banned two of Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge stories from all reprints or future collections. The company explained its action by an ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, and as a result, some stories that do not align with their values will no longer be published.

Tuomas Holopainen is the leader of the Nightwish symphonic metal band. He noted on the decision made by the Disney Company that "the freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy and a functioning society, and censorship of art has nasty Orwellian undertones". 

In my opinion Holopainen is right in his comment. The strength of the Western World has been its ability to stand different opinions and views. And to remember mistakes it has made in the past. The latter one you may compare to the similarities between Putin´s Russia and Stalin´s dystopian Soviet Union. 

I doubt that the decision makers of the Disney Company are deliberate advocates of an Orwellian dystopia, but it is obvious that their action is a small step towards that. And as we remember, many small streams can make a big river. And unfortunately, as Holopainen pointed out, "there are unfortunately many similar examples from the recent past" as the one made by the Disney Company (example). 

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Biafran rebel leader living in Finland
Ayatollahs in Iran demonstrated their ridiculousness
Demonstration of one´s own stupidity is a sign of western values