Publications

2025

Yle 100 Research Program has released two books

Yle, the Finnish Public Broadcasting Company, turns 100 years in 2026. To commemorate the work of the past hundred years and to better understand its present position, Yle has initiated and is funding a four-year research program on its own history. The focus of the project is on Yle’s relationship to Finns, Finland and the culture in Finland. Collaborating universities in the project are Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere and Turku. The Yle 100 Program is the largest-ever academic research project focusing solely on Yle.

The program is Yle’s investment in academic knowledge and understanding concerning Finnish public broadcasting and public services in general. All studies in the program will be done from the standpoint and within the requirements of academic research. A steering group of historians and media researchers guides the program, and all separate thematic studies are done in collaboration between the researchers of participating universities. Responsible researchers of the thematic studies set their own research problems and do the relevant methodological choices.

The latest publication (11/2025) of the project Kortti, Jukka & Reetta Hänninen: Kansan ääni ja kuva. Yle, Suomi ja suomalaiset 1926–2026 (The people’s voice and picture. Yle, Finland and the Finns 1926–2026). Helsinki: SKS Kirjat 2025 (480 p.) examines the significance of Yle for Finnishness: How has Yle defined Finland and Finnishness throughout its history? And how have Finns as an audience viewed Yle?

The research places Yle in the broader context of media history and social development. It discusses Yle’s role in building regional and local identity, but also its relationship to nationalism, propaganda, and Finlandization during the war years and the Cold War. In addition, it highlights Yle’s importance as a conveyor of national rituals, sports, and cultural heritage.

The previous volume on programs and culture content, Koivunen, Anu, Maiju Kannisto, Heidi Keinonen, ja Janne Mäkelä, toim. Kulttuurin vuosisata – Luova ohjelmatyö Yleisradiossa 1926-2025. Helsinki: SKS Kirjat, 2025 (p. 584) was published in June 2025. The book paints a picture of Yleisradio’s programming from the era of radio and television to the current multi-platform digital age. By examining different types of programs, from radio plays to podcasts, radio concerts to TV dramas and films, and documentaries to cultural and educational programs, the book tells the story of how and what kind of culture Yleisradio has produced over the past hundred years. At the same time, it tells the story of Yleisradio’s transformation from a national cultural institution into a player in the global media ecosystem.

2024

Jukka Kortti, Heidi Kurvinen (Eds.)

Mediated Ideologies: Nordic Views on the History of the Press and Media Cultures

Ideologies have not been a focus of interest in the field of humanities and social sciences in recent decades, but rethinking the power of ideologies in the media sphere has recently returned to the scholarly discussion. The compilation book “Mediated Ideologies: Nordic Views on the History of the Press and Media Cultures” participates in this by providing selected yet justified approaches to media history from the point of view of ideological uses of media in the Nordic region. In this book, the role of media – comprising both popular media and news journalism – as a forum for ideologies and their circulation will be analyzed by focusing on the Nordic region. The perceived similarities in the media systems of the Nordic countries constitute a perfect extent for a regional media history against not only a European but also a global backdrop. This does not mean that there have not been many national differences. The book does not provide a chronological narrative of Nordic media history. Still, the ideology of media is approached not only from the standpoints of different media forms – film, television, newspapers, magazines, and periodicals – but also from several historical periods from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century. The chapters show the multidimensional role that the media has in transmitting ideologies to their audiences and the public sphere. They also demonstrate that analyzing the role of different ideologies, such as modernization, nationalism, solidarity, feminism, and peace movement in media history provides wider perspectives in understanding past and present media landscapes and people’s mediated experiences that are fostered by them. “Mediated Ideologies: Nordic Views on the History of the Press and Media Cultures” can be used both as a reference book and as a classroom adaption in the field of media, communication, and history studies.

2023

Sune Bechmann Pedersen, Marie Cronqvist, Ulrika Holgersson (Eds.)

Expanding Media Histories: Cultural and Material Perspectives

Contemporary media history is a rapidly growing field that extends far beyond traditional studies of technology or institutions such as radio, film, and television. This volume expands the scope further still to analyse ephemeral, mundane phenomena long overlooked by media historiography. In eight original essays, the volume demonstrates the strengths of a broad concept of the media. The first part centres on media systems and media events, with studies of spiritist séances, Gallup polls, the mediated persona of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and the burial of a Swedish statesman in 1915. The second part focuses on media materialities and infrastructure such as art replicas, ring binders, tourist guidebooks, and media technology in the IKEA home. Aimed at students and academics alike, Expanding Media Histories offers new empirical research, which engages critically with key concepts in media history today.