The political and media dynamics have changed
During the Korona period, significant and worrying changes have taken place in political news coverage, which have gradually become apparent.
The increase in distances is the most obvious change in this dynamic: once upon a time, every political journalist knew exactly when the Prime Minister or key ministers were due to arrive in Parliament and were thus easily available to comment on the political issue of the day. In the backyard of Parliament, journalists quickly surrounded the Prime Minister, who was forced by surprise to answer the most extraordinary topical questions. Sometimes prime ministers tried desperately to prevent journalists from doing so: Lipponen, for example, banned journalists from the corridor of the President's office and Stubb tried to gather journalists in the State Chamber to listen to a briefing. Both prime ministers faced the indignation of journalists, who saw the changes as a restriction on journalists' freedom.
No longer do we see ministers surrounded by a forest of microphones, no longer do we see bothered politicians dodging difficult questions, no longer do we see politicians running away from an army of journalists on the stairs. Instead, we have an endless series of remote briefings where journalists are answered on a strictly limited topic and schedule. In the worst cases, these events are held indoors and the politicians' faces are hidden behind masks, so that the public cannot judge anything by the movements of the politician's face. An interesting detail is that during the Frameworks debate, politicians wore masks when answering journalists outside, but when solutions were found, they took the masks off so that the smiles could be seen.
The distance imposed by Korona has given the politician enormous protection against the media. Previously, the politician had to answer journalists directly and the pressure was palpable. Now there is no such pressure. To make matters worse, journalists have to call politicians' assistants to ask for an interview or a comment. The assistants have now acquired a power over the media that I myself, as press secretary of the Coalition's group office, could only dream of: they can choose which questions politicians answer and direct the unpleasant ones to the bureaucracy. As a result, the visibility of the bureau has increased significantly: before the koruna, few people would have been able to tell who the head of the State Audit Office, the Chancellor of Justice, the Director-General of the National Audit Office or the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs were. These are just a few examples of officials who have become media personalities over the past year. In the past, they would have been replaced by politicians.
Information leaks and information sharing with the media is another new phenomenon that is changing the relationship between the media and politicians. Over the past year, politicians have managed to steer the political debate by providing journalists with emails that have allowed them to uncover background discussions. This is problematic, as many politicians and civil servants are now wary of what they dare to email ministers. Another problem is the actual veracity of the communications. If one of the parties had already planned to publish the messages when they were written, this is likely to have guided the wording of the messages. In this way, the media are painted with embellished descriptions of events. I therefore call for strong source criticism from the media regarding leaked emails.
Of course, there are many other changes besides the increased distances and information leaks, from the disappearance of parliamentary debates to the political omnipotence of the corona epidemic. What is essential, however, is to start looking at which of these changes are here to stay, and how this affects the media's tools and ability to challenge the thinking of decision-makers and report the facts to the public.
I argue that many of these changes will be permanent, reinforcing the power of politicians over the media. A permanent change in this dynamic is not to democracy's credit and therefore needs to be challenged by the media.
Niilo Mustonen
The author is the founder of Blic, who once worked in the communications department of the Coalition Party in the Parliament and was in close contact with the media on a daily basis. Niilo is still an active media follower, following the dynamics between the media and politicians with interest.