The expansion of media conglomerates is shrinking the diversity of small newspapers. As more and more people read their news via smartphones, the ones suffering are smaller publications and journalism that covers local politics and culture. What can communications professionals do to help fix the situation?

At Netprofile, we encourage employees to keep learning. Through our internal Grow program, every employee has the opportunity to attend an interesting event each year or train themselves, for example, by taking a course of their choice.

My colleague Liisa Yli-Ojanperä and I headed to Jyväskylä in early October for the Viestintäpäivä Plussa event, organised by ProCom and the Finnish Association of Science Editors and Journalists. This year’s theme was “Let’s save communications.” Speakers included Financial Times science journalist Melissa Heikkilä, Journalist Union’s international affairs expert Salla Nazarenko, Osuuskauppa Keskimaa’s communications and marketing director Noora Luoma and Tero Manninen, communications director for the Central Finland Wellbeing Services County.

The event featured many interesting talks. Having worked as a journalist for over a decade earlier in my career, two presentations on the state of media and journalism resonated particularly strongly with me.

Maybe it’s journalism, not communications, that needs saving

Author and researcher Elina Grundström discussed what concentrated media ownership means for Finnish democracy. The theme was illustrated through the rapidly expanding Keskisuomalainen Group, whose subsidiaries publish dozens of newspapers and own several radio stations.

Grundström has written a book about the company’s CEO, Vesa-Pekka Kangaskorpi, exploring his rise as one of Finland’s most influential media figures in the 2000s. Kangaskorpi himself commented on the book and Grundström’s findings via video call.

In another presentation on the same theme, postdoctoral researcher Ville Manninen shared his research on the democratic impacts of media concentration.

Both talks highlighted similar phenomena: ownership of small local newspapers is becoming highly concentrated, and cost savings are achieved by publishing the same stories across multiple papers in the network instead of each outlet writing their own articles.

At the same time, newsroom sizes are shrinking, resources are dwindling, and story angles are changing. Up to 30 per cent of newsrooms have disappeared, and coverage of local politics and culture has declined. Are “news deserts” emerging in Finland, where local issues are discussed only through social media? What are the cause-and-effect relationships at play?

The digital shift affects story priorities

According to Manninen’s research, similar changes are happening across Finland, often regardless of ownership. A major factor has been the rise of digital-first practices in the 2020s as the print media continues to shrink. Local papers finally adapted to the digital-first reality during the pandemic years. Manninen suggests this is more a phenomenon of our time than a direct result of ownership concentration.

V-P Kangaskorpi defended the group’s expansion by arguing that without consolidation, many smaller papers might already have been shut down. If a media company doesn’t make a profit, it can’t produce journalism, he noted, echoing the late Aatos Erkko.

Be that as it may, in the new media reality, local content is more appealing than ever, but mainly in the form of human-interest stories, restaurant tips and feel-good pieces. Likewise, profile features are widely read – and therefore widely written. The role of local media as a watchdog of power, however, has inevitably diminished.

How do we save journalism?

What lessons can we draw for working with media in this situation? At least this: local angles matter even for bigger phenomena – highlight people, because people always attract interest.

Those working in organisational communications should recognise the reality of newsrooms: scarce resources, staff shortages, and intense pressure to compete for clicks. If you want your message to get through, I encourage you to maintain good relationships with journalists. They are often in the profession out of passion and want to offer their readers interesting stories. Help the journalist by providing information and expert interviews openly, and your company will gain the visibility it deserves more easily.

As communications professionals, we should also consider how we can help keep local media alive. Money is, of course, a big factor. Instead of spending our communications and marketing budgets on services from global giants like Meta, we can reach audiences by buying visibility in domestic media – either through Finnish platforms like Readpeak or directly via media companies.

Does your organisation need visibility? We help industrial and technology companies reach their audiences across Finland. Leave us a contact request if you’d like to learn more!