Journal articles on the topic 'Finnish Public opinion'

The study set out to explore Finnish lay views of intelligence, of its nature, definitions, and measurement. The 152 subjects, a random sample of an adult population, rated 23 short statements about intelligence. It appeared that the subjects were inclined to deal with intelligence in pluralistic and relativistic rather than in absolute terms. Statements concerning the objectivity of intelligence tests and the value of their use generated the most differences of opinion. A factor analysis of the ratings indicated three dimensions of opinion: traditional views, relativistic views, and gender stereotypes. Relationships of the subjects' sex, age. and education to their opinions were studied.

The article analyzes how the attitude of the Finnish population to Finland’s policy of military non-alignment correlates with the official foreign strategy. The question of public opinion can act as a possible sociocultural tool for its change is examined. The author explains the main reasons for the formation of stable public opinion in favor of neutrality, based on national and cultural identity. The role of public opinion in the Finnish internal debate on the «NATO option» is shown. The thesis that public opinion plays only an auxiliary role in comparison with external circumstances affecting the foreign policy of Finland, which is widespread in research circles, is considered. The author argues that public opinion on Finland’s possible entry into NATO is crucial in two key ways. First, at present, it’s a factor supporting the stable foreign policy decision, which is carried out by the state government. Secondly, in the future, public opinion may become a factor capable, under certain conditions of having a significant impact on the change of the Finnish course in foreign and security policy. The second option assumes that public opinion can play its own role by changing the pre-planned foreign policy scenario.

Abstract The big question behind the research on media and democracy is: do media influence public opinion and the actual policy? The discussion about Finland’s NATO membership is a case in point. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, there has been a continuous public debate about whether Finland should join NATO. In the last 16 years, however, public opinion on NATO membership has not changed much. Despite the changes in world politics, such as NATO enlargement and new weapons technology, Finns still rely on military non-alliance and want to keep their own army strong. During the last ten years, there seems to be no correlation between media coverage and public opinion: pro-NATO media content has not been able to make Finns’ attitudes towards NATO more positive. The information provided by most of the Finnish newspapers is different from the way ordinary people see NATO. In the papers’ view, joining the alliance would be a natural step in Finland’s integration into Western democratic organizations. Ordinary people on the contrary consider NATO more as a (U.S. led) military alliance which is not something Finland should be a part of. Historical experiences also discourage military alignment. In the light of data drawn from newspaper articles and opinion polls, the article suggests that journalism has had only a slight effect on public opinion about Finland’s NATO membership. The NATO issue does not count for much in any measurements that have been made regarding the preferences of Finnish voters. As the NATO issue is not considered to be important, most people do not have enough motivation to learn about NATO. Thus, the journalistic interpretation of NATO has not reached the general public, leaving the impact of the media limited.

Finland is not a NATO member but continues close cooperation with NATO structures and forces. Finnish relations with NATO have been determining on one hand by internal factors (Finnish neutrality doctrine, public opinion), on the other – by developments of global security system. New security situation after 1990 led to fundamental changes in the conditions on which defence policy is based. Finland has now strong ambition to participate actively in most international peace-keeping endeavors. In 1994 an agreement was signed on Finnish participation in the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace. Since this date Finland is deeply involved in military cooperation with NATO), esp. during peace-support operation.The article goes through the questions of impact of Finnish integration with NATO on the Finnish defence system. The aim is to discuss how NATO’s membership would influence Finnish defence structures, capabilities and Finnish military policy.

PurposeThe paper presents a study on whether citizens’ immigration attitudes shape their attitudes towards social welfare in three Nordic countries.Design/methodology/approachThe main analysis was performed using linear regression analysis. Data were retrieved from the eighth round of the European Social Survey (2016). The data cover the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish respondents (N = 5,021).FindingsThe analyses indicate that citizens’ immigration attitudes are associated with their social welfare attitudes. The more positive the attitudes towards immigration are, the more positive the attitudes toward social welfare will be. Further, people in the political Left have more positive attitudes towards social welfare compared to those in the political Right; but, the immigration issue is more divisive of the political Left’s opinion than that of the Right.Research limitations/implicationsPublic opinion research has its limitations because behind an individual’s opinion there are many hidden factors. An individual may also have different opinions depending on the dimensions of the welfare state.Social implicationsIf the immigration issue reduces the support for social welfare among the political Left, it may reduce the legitimacy of the Nordic social policy because the support of the political Left has traditionally been in favour of the universal principles of the welfare state.Originality/valueThe association of the immigration issue and social welfare attitudes has been broadly studied; but, the interaction of the immigration issue and political opinion on social welfare attitudes is less studied.

The article analyses military and political factors of cooperation between Finland and the United States since 1990s up to the present. The author attempts to show the role Finnish defence forces in the US military reinforcement plans in the Northern European Theater of Operations. The author focuses on the American security interests in Finnish territories, as well as expert views on the US priority in Finland’s foreign policy, including the latest public opinion polls. The aim of US military reinforcement in Finland is twofold. First, to pose a threat to Russia. Second, to help the US military improve surveillance, intelligence and analysis capabilities in real time in north-west Europe and the North Atlantic. Within the context of challenges to Russia’s security, the major institutional arrangements, military trends and consequences of cooperation are discussed. Finally, scenarios for the development of Finnish-US relations within NATO are proposed.

Abstract The article presents and compares the general situation of public libraries and readership in Finland and Poland at the beginning of the 21st century, based on selected statistical data on the topic. In order to correctly understand the library policy of Finland - a country in which it is impossible to implement cultural policy without taking into account the geographical and natural conditions of individual regions - the most important data on the country are presented and compared with data on Poland. Statistical schedules, online reports on the activity of public libraries, libraries’ homepages, legislative acts and professional library science magazines, among others, served as source materials for the conducted analysis. The comparative method, documentation analysis method and statistical method were used to achieve the assumed objectives. Considering the limitations on the article size, a decision was made to select a few specific aspects of the topic for analysis - the most important ones in the author’s opinion. Among others, these included information on public libraries made available in both countries, contemporary government policies implemented towards the institutions that the author is interested in, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, generating reports on the research, as well as the governments’ compliance with international and national standards of the quality of library collections, personnel and services.

In this article, we explore scientists' freedom of expression in the context of authoritarian populism. Our particular case for this analysis is Finland, where the right-wing populist Finns Party entered the government for the first time in 2015. More recently, after leaving the government in 2017, the party has been the most popular party in opinion polls in 2021. We illustrate the current threats to Finnish researchers' freedom of expression using their responses on three surveys, made in 2015, 2017 and 2019. We focus on politically motivated disparagement of scientists and experts, and the scientists' experiences with online hate and aggressive feedback. Further, we relate these findings to the recent studies on authoritarian populism and science-related populism. We argue that this development may affect researchers' readiness to communicate their research and expertise in public.

In Finland, planning competitions are used as a way to determine alternatives in the early phase of urban planning. However, the traditional jury-based evaluation process is encountering significant opposition as it does not consider the views of local residents. In recent years, methods of web-based evaluation have been developed and tested to register public opinion in several planning competitions. This paper describes how web-based public participation and GIS-based evaluation tools, such as PPGIS (public participation geographic information system) and public evaluation web pages, are utilised in urban planning competitions. The research focus of this paper is on studying how public participation can be arranged in competition processes and how the competitors use the information produced. In addition, we identify issues that can affect the utilisation of the information. Based on two Finnish case studies, this study indicates that web-based tools can augment public participation in various phases of the competition process.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilise the collective opinion of a group of Finnish experts to identify the most important learning outcomes of secondary-level school-based health education, in the specific domains of physical activity and nutrition. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a Delphi survey technique to collect the opinions of a group (panel) of Finnish experts. A list of learning outcomes was compiled via an extensive literature review of documents from all levels of health education (physical activity and nutrition) policy development and implementation. A general inductive analysis method was conducted, resulting in education themes which were then compiled into health literacy-constructed learning outcomes to present to the panel in the two Delphi rounds. Findings – The study question is answered in the form of a ranked list of the 24 most important learning outcomes of physical activity and nutrition education in Finnish schools. The analysis of variance pair-wise comparisons with Bonferroni indicated that six items were statistically possibly more important than the 18 others. The three most important items being: first, understand the importance of a varied and balanced diet; second, the ability to analyse their own lifestyle; third, understand the link between physical activity and health. The study also identified topics/themes which could be either under-represented or over-represented in the current literature and teaching. Originality/value – This study is the only one of its type, and researches an as yet unknown area of health education. The value of this study lies in its role in the further development of school health education, in terms of identifying the “most important” contemporary issues to teach in the classroom, and may also be used as a topic prioritisation and curriculum planning tool.

This article examines how religious freedom has been implemented and interpreted in Finland over the last hundred years. Moving chronologically, I explore the most crucial developmental phases in religious freedom legislation and public discussion. The Act on the Freedom of Religion was only introduced after Finland’s independence in 1917 and entered into force at the beginning of 1923. The article shows themes that provoked much discussion in the 1920s and were interestingly repeated in the debate in the 1960s. The question of the relationship between the church and state was at the core of the Finnish public debate on freedom of religion from the outset. A similar discussion again became visible at the turn of the twenty-first century in connection with the basic rights reform and processing of the new Act on the Freedom of Religion. The strength of the Finnish state church system in society is still illustrated by the fact that the Act on the Freedom of Religion of 2003 did not really change the basic premise regarding the Lutheran and Orthodox churches, which hold a special position. Opinion remains divided on whether such a system is problematic for the realization of religious freedom.

The article presents an attempt to reconstruct the system of thinking of Russian conservative nationalists of the late Empire period based on a comparison of the formal and substantive features of their texts, which were dedicated to the "Finnish question". Taken together, these texts constituted a single "anti-Finnish discourse" created in order to influence the government and public opinion on the status of the Grand Duchy of Finland. However, they were united not only by origin and content, but also by common formal characteristics such as rhetorical features and tricks, vocabulary, and syntactic constructions. Metaphors were the most important formal element of this discourse. They can be combined into four conventional metaphorical models: historical, military, criminal, and physiological. The analysis of metaphorical series allows us to make conclusions not only about how well publicists commanded methods of propaganda influence on the audience, but also about the logic of their thinking. With the help of metaphors and auxiliary linguistic tools linked to them, “one’s own” and “alien” social strata were marked, an ideal society was described, and discourse authors’ attitude to the current situation in the country was demonstrated.

AbstractObjectiveRecently, the general public opinion is that nutritional recommendations promote obesity rather than prevent it. We created the Recommended Finnish Diet Score (RFDS) that illustrates the Finnish nutrition recommendations and assessed whether this score is associated with BMI, waist circumference (WC) and body fat percentage (BF%).DesignCross-sectional study included two phases of the National FINRISK 2007 Study. Diet was assessed using a validated FFQ. Height, weight, WC and BF% were measured, and BMI values were calculated. The RFDS was developed based on the national nutrition recommendations.SettingA large representative sample of the Finnish population.SubjectsMen (n2190) and women (n2530) aged 25–74 years.ResultsThe RFDS was inversely associated with WC in men (OR = 0·48, 95 % CI 0·28, 0·81,P< 0·05) and BF% in both men (OR = 0·44, 95 % CI 0·24, 0·82,P-trend < 0·05) and women (OR = 0·63, 95 % CI 0·37, 1·08,P-trend < 0·05). The inverse association of RFDS and BF% appeared stronger among older age groups (men: OR = 0·21 CI 0·07, 0·64,P-trend < 0·01; women: OR = 0·56, 95 % CI 0·25, 1·27,P-trend < 0·05) and among women with normal BMI (OR = 0·62, 95 % CI 0·36, 1·09,P-trend < 0·05). The RFDS was not associated with BMI.ConclusionsA diet following nutrition recommendations is likely to help to maintain normal WC and BF%. These findings could be useful for dietary counselling and the prevention of obesity.

In the digital age, information warfare has become a significant global concern, with malicious actors exploiting various media to manipulate public opinion, destabilising governments, and sowing discord. Automated and algorithmic tools are used to spread false and misleading information on social media platforms, and states have been unable to control the spread of it. In addressing new challenges, national governments globally reassess strategies, communications, and responses to adapt to evolving threat environments. To counter information influence activities, it is crucial to have informed, educated, and well-trained communicators. This case study focuses on the innovative use of wargaming in training government officials, providing them with abilities to respond to different tactics and methods of malign influence operations. This article is based on an information warfare exercise conducted in January 2024 involving 27 Finnish officials from various ministries and agencies critical to national security. The participants participated in an interactive simulation, where they explored and responded to challenges related to disinformation campaigns and other tactics designed to manipulate and influence information within a hybrid warfare context. The players were divided into two teams: red and blue, with the reds assuming the role of the offensive team while the blues took on the defensive role. The teams competed for control over the information space, employing various information warfare methods. After the exercise, each participant was asked to complete a post-exercise survey to evaluate the knowledge acquired and the exercise's overall usefulness, including scenario clarity and the effectiveness of role-playing. We also explored potential differences in perceptions and experiences between inexperienced and experienced players in the wargaming exercise. Key findings revealed the effectiveness of wargaming as an educational tool, particularly benefiting novices over experienced players. Role-playing proved valuable, emphasizing the importance of explicit scenarios for effective engagement. The study highlighted cross-departmental cooperation's significance, facilitating a dynamic learning environment.

Missionary work was one of the main forces in the opening of the African continent to direct western influence. In many cases, from the 1830s onwards, missionaries were the first Westerners residing in the interior of the continent, thus accumulating considerable knowledge concerning geographical conditions in their respective areas of residence.The question arises: how did information from these people with scarce knowledge about the interior filter down to representations of geographical conditions such as maps and literary descriptions? Working in close cooperation with Africans, their conceptions were likely to be somewhat more detailed than those of the colonial administration. Politically, they often assumed the role of mediators between the foreign powers and local societies; perhaps this was also the case where geographical knowledge was concerned. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which the Finnish Mission in colonial Ovamboland under German influence had an active role in mapmaking.One ostensible reason for Germany's annexation of colonies was to turn a profit from them and strengthen the economy of the homeland. An additional function of German colonies was to persuade people who otherwise would have emigrated to the United States or Latin America to stay within the German economic sphere. White settlers were to supplant what was considered inefficient African land use with commercial agriculture whose products were to be exported to Germany. Public opinion in Germany also advocated colonization for status reasons, which made politicians sensitive to it.

The interest in procedures for political decision-making has grown tremendously during recent decades. Given the intense scholarly debate and the implementation of greater opportunities for citizen participation in many democracies, there has been surprisingly little interest in citizens’ conceptions of democracy understood as their preferences concerning the processes by which the political system works. Some recent attempts do, however, suggest that it is important to expand the study of public opinion from policy output to decision-making processes, and that there are coherent patterns in citizens’ expectations of the way in which political decisions come about. What is not clear, though, is whether citizens’ different conceptions of democracy have repercussions for how they engage in politics. Using the Finnish National Election Study of 2011 (Borg and Grönlund 2011), this article explores the relationship between citizens’ conceptions of democracy and patterns of political participation. Results demonstrate a distinct association between citizens’ ideals and the actions they take.

Abstract Public relations (PR) professionals and journalists act as builders of societies’ communication atmospheres, and their inter-relationships are of importance. The aim of the present study is to describe and compare PR professionals’ and journalists’ professional self-images and perceptions of the other group's profession in Finland. The study is part of the ProfCom project and makes use of the project's Finnish quantitative questionnaire data. The results indicate clear perception differences. PR professionals identify themselves with bond- and trust-building objectives, whereas journalists perceive marketing and financial goals as the main objectives of PR professionals. Journalists identify themselves with information sharing, criticism and service roles, whereas PR professionals perceive opinion sharing, advising and informing about scandals as the main objectives of journalists. In addition, the study indicates a need for further research on the underlying reasons for conflicting perceptions and the effects of the developing Internet communication arena on relationships between professionals.

This paper examines whether male and female managers hold different opinion on women in managerial and higher level positions, depending on their different cultural background. Furthermore, the paper deals with managers’ perception of organizational readiness to accept women in managerial positions. The paper is looking at this aspect from a cultural perspective, by comparing France to Finland. The research is based on 16 interviews, 9 from France and 7 from Finland, with individuals in different managerial positions in 10 private companies located in both countries. Findings indicate that regardless of the country and of the cultural backgrounds, organizations are not ready to let women climb the hierarchical ladder as men do. Results also show that despite a positive mind-set toward gender-equality, Finnish women still face a strong masculine corporate culture.

Teaching and learning experienced a rapid change in spring 2020, and the learning environments for university students changed almost overnight. An integrative science centre education informal learning course for Finnish teaching students has been arranged for over 20 years with latest technologies and innovations. This cross-sectional study compared survey data of teaching students between four time points: in 2019 (n = 108), in 2020 (n = 115), in 2021 (n = 110), and in 2022 (n = 90). The course content was the same, only the implementation differed. In the spring of 2019 and 2022 the course was implemented as contact-teaching, but during the critical phase of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 as distant teaching. Data were analysed by using ANOVA and the prediction of possible effects of the contact/distance learning by the structural equation path model (SEM). The analysis showed that the results favoured the first contact instruction course in 2019: their confidence of integrating the learned contents of the science centre into practical school matters differed from all the other groups. This group also appreciated the usefulness of the course more than the other groups. In turn, the first distant course had a more negative opinion of the usability of the course than all the other groups. Despite that the distant group in 2020 and even more so the other distant group in 2021 felt more confidence in the direct integration of the course content into future teaching based on the path analysis. Gender had two kinds of effects, one in the distance learning group in 2020: being a female directly predicted the future use of science centre type pedagogy, and the other in the contact learning group in 2022: being a female predicted the appreciation of the science centre course. As a limitation of the study, more students’ prior experience and attitudes with online learning is needed from future research. The preliminary results and best practises of this study are utilised internationally in several EU-Erasmus+ projects.

The subject of this article is public service ethics. In the context of the Finnish welfare model, the essence of the ethical administrator is analysed by three issues: accountability, ethical values and ethical principles. In the article, these topics are mainly discussed through the viewpoints of elected representatives. Finnish legislators were asked their opinions, attitudes and expectations towards these issues. The empirical material of the study was gathered through a separate survey given to all Members of Parliament. The article also tries to link the empirical findings to the current debate of public service ethics research.

Modern society faces large-scale challenges associated with the digitalization of economic and social processes, especially at its new stage – the development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The point is that the use of AI entails great ethical risks, since creates an opportunity for non-observance of human rights to privacy. In Finland, a country that has been pursuing an innovation policy closely linked to socio-economic policies that responds to social challenges for several decades, this problem is widely discussed and strives to minimize and even eliminate the above risks in decisions on research and development (R&D) policy. Therefore, R&D in the field of AI technologies is carried out in Finland at the intersection of computer, mathematical and humanitarian sciences, since one of the most important issues of its application is the question of how moral and ethical its results will be. In this regard, the analysis and understanding of Finland’s experience in this area is important and necessary. Finland has traditionally in recent decades prioritized the humanitarian component in the formation of innovation policy. The technological component was viewed through the prism of social problems that should be resolved in the course of economic development, the main driver of which is innovation processes. This approach is determined by the country’s social development model. The openness of public administration, the high role of the country’s citizens in making the most important strategic decisions, the social responsibility of business, taking into account the opinion of the expert community leads to a balanced promotion of technologies in the economy. Of course, opportunities for innovative development “with a human face” from time to time run into economic constraints – which was clearly manifested, for example, during a pandemic. Nevertheless, when it comes to digitalization and the use of AI, the Finnish state and society continue to strive to ensure the presumption of morality and ethics in the implementation of these technologies. The country is conducting humanitarian and sociological research in this area, as well as developing mechanisms for managing the ethics and morality of AI. The country strives to become a leader not only in AI technologies, but also in developing the principles of preserving the humanitarian and moral values that Finland shares with Europe.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate public opinions towards elderly care. The authors analysed respondents’ opinions towards financial support, practical help and care for elderly people. Design/methodology/approach The authors used nationally representative data collected in Finland in 2012. Respondents represent an older generation (born between 1945 and 1950, n=1,959) and their adult children (born between 1962 and 1993, n=1,652). Findings First, the authors compared the opinions of older and younger Finns but did not find that older adults were more likely than younger adults support the state responsibility, or vice versa. It was also when only actual parent-child dyads (n=779) from same families were included. Next, the authors found that several socioeconomic and family-related variables were associated with public opinions of elderly care in both generations. For instance, in both generations lower-income individuals supported the state’s responsibility more compared to their better-off counterparts. Originality/value The study provides important knowledge on attitudes towards elderly care using unique two-generational data of younger and older adults.

The rapid change of local government operating environment shapes the interaction between political leaders and public administrators, who work in the constant riptide of service responsiveness and economic pressure. We investigate the relationship between political leaders and public administrators in the local administration of social and health services. The patterns and pictures are examined empirically, with data gathered from strategic-level political leaders and public administrators in six Finnish local government organisations. The analysis applies multivariate methods. The results suggest that there are different groups among the political leaders. The differences are not based on political opinions, but rather on the attitudes towards the decision-making process, also the views on local government decision-making processes differ between the groups. The rapid contextual change experienced in the public organisations requires a fast and well-informed response from political leaders and public administrators; even political differences can be pushed aside in this turbulent operating environment.

AbstractThe basic income (BI) scheme is a fundamental reform of the welfare state that has recently gained widespread attention. Proposals for different variants of BI schemes have emerged to account for varying political and societal goals. This study investigates what citizens think about the idea of a BI, and to what extent citizens’ perceptions depend on the exact design of such a scheme and the context in which this policy is embedded. Empirically, we rely on conjoint experiments conducted in Finland and Switzerland – the two countries in which the introduction of a BI scheme has recently been discussed most intensely. We find that the level of public support for BI is higher in Finland than it is in Switzerland. Moreover, despite the contrasting designs of the BI proposals in the two countries, both Finnish and Swiss citizens tend to favor more generous schemes restricting non-nationals’ access to the provision.

Prior research indicates that adolescent boys are often more active than girls, implying a need for special attention to increase the physical activity levels of adolescent girls. Adolescents are at an age where they are especially susceptible to environmental and social influences but still have a limited amount of autonomy over their own behaviors. The effective physical activity programs implemented at this age may benefit health into adulthood. The fact that adolescents’ physical activity is influenced by many factors indicates that to achieve any behavioral change, interventions must target several levels across the socio-ecological model. During childhood, the family is the primary factor in socializing and shaping engagement in physical activity. This study is part of the Physical Education (PE) Homework Study project which was implemented in a midsized secondary school in the middle of Finland from 2016 to 2020. The goal was to develop one easily approachable way to prevent the decreasing physical activity of adolescent girls. This was done by increasing physical activity times of adolescent girls outside of the school by giving them active PE assignments. The aim was also to explore students’ and their parents’ perceptions of physically active physical education homework. In this part of the study, there were 43 interviews: 38 student interviews and 5 interviews with parents. The analysis process followed the qualitative content analysis (QCA) strategy by Schreirer. In this study, we combined the views of students and parents, and obtained a broad picture of the PE homework assignments given at school but completed at home. According to students and parents, PE homework assignments should be diverse, interesting, and challenging, they should also be provided at flexible schedules outside of school hours with family support. Physical education homework could be a potential approach to influence the physical activity of the student population by involving school curriculum and families.

Male ageing is in focus nowadays. The aim of this study was to investigate conceptions of the male menopause (also known as andropause) in the educational and professional literature of Finnish physicians from 1982 to 2002, and the main point of interest was how the presentation of the male menopause and its treatments have changed. Published items for analysis were retrieved from the two main Finnish medical journals and from introductory gynaecology and urology textbooks using keywords for male ageing and hormones. It was found that disagreements about the male menopause have been marked. Some authors described it as a consequence of the decline in gonad functioning that comes with increased age, and some argued that we are making a disease out of normal ageing, but its association with sexual problems has risen in prominence: libido and potency disorders have recently been identified as symptoms. The treatment provided for male menopause was androgens, about which opinions diverged, especially the effect of androgen therapy on cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. New forms of testosterone treatment have been eagerly adopted, but opinions varied on the appropriate duration of the therapies. By the 2000s, the male menopause was increasingly likened to the female menopause, with emphasis upon the similar symptoms. While gerontological thinking largely sees the male menopause as an aspect of ageing and a normal condition, the andrological approach regards it as a treatable disease and its rapid adoption can be seen as a reflection of both private and public concerns about increased longevity.

Social media, as the fifth estate, increasingly influence public dis­courses and play a major role in shaping public opinion. Undoubt­edly, they have the potential to promote participation and democra­cy. On the other side, they also constitute a risk for democratic soci­eties, as the spread of hate speech and fake news has shown. As a response, forms of counterspeech organised by civil society have emerged in social media to counter the normalisation of hate speech and democracy-threatening discourses. In order to influence dis­course in social media in terms of the fifth estate, counterspeech campaigns must be visible also quantitatively. In this ethnographic contrastive study, I analysed the activities of the German and Finn­ish Facebook groups of the network #iamhere international. The in­tensity and continuity of their activities is obviously influenced by their strategic organisation: conventionalised rules support them whereas lacking or inconsequent rules seemed to be counterpro­ductive.

Anonymous online groups such as imageboards have increasing cultural influence. Recently, they have been connected with far-right political movements. This mixed-methods study investigates politics on Overboard, a Finnish imageboard. We use a convolutional neural network to learn linguistic features of the community’s own understanding of politics, studying two large text corpora, collected in 2014–2015 and 2018–2019. This enables us to find political messages in nominally non-political subforums and discount non-political “noise”—finding the “needles in the haystack.” We quantify the prevalence of political talk on Overboard, assess its themes using topic modeling, and evaluate changes in their popularity. Finally, we qualitatively analyze the style of Overboard. We find that around one-tenth of messages on Overboard are identifiable as “political.” Often, but not univocally, they voice far-right opinions, usually somewhat ironically. The prevalence of far-right themes has increased, likely because of importing global imageboard culture and in parallel with the increased popularity of nationalist-right politics in the broader Finnish public sphere. In terms of group style, the strong boundary between members and outsiders, together with the ironic and cynical speech norms, creates a bond between members. Such a group style lends itself to politicizing the collective.

Interest is growing in the role of spontaneous volunteers and emergent citizens groups in safety and security functions. This study connects those actors to the broad concept of the self-organizing fourth sector and analyzes the opinions of more than 200 Finnish representatives of public-and the third-sector organizations gathered through interviews and small group discussion on the tensions related to fourth-sector activity. The study reveals a strong desire to control the fourth sector, a desire that dominates any associated desire to enable it. The tension between enabling and controlling can be tamed by moving the fourth-sector actors under the control of the third sector. However, the role of the fourth sector is then reduced to being merely an extra pair of hands, and its self-organizing and emergent nature is subsumed. The debate over the paradox of spontaneous volunteering needs to be resolved before the fourth sector becomes a normal and acknowledged part of the security and safety functions.

The focus in this study is on the thoughts and opinions of the general public to the divergence in expert standpoints regarding additives in food. The relation of education, length of work experience, occupational field, gender, and people's ideas on this matter, as well as the changes in it, were of interest. Fifty-nine young and middle-aged Finnish adults were interviewed during the years 1986-1988 and again in 1993-1994. The semi-structured interview included straightforward questions about reasons for disagreements among experts regarding additives; in other parts of the interview people could spontaneously comment on the discrepancies. Three main categories of reasons for the disagreement emerged. General difficulty in obtaining scientific knowledge was the most common reason given. In the second interview round, a greater number of less well-educated interviewees expressed views in this category. The second category was various interest-related reasons. The increase of these notions was statistically significant among the academics. The least common category concerned differences in the caliber and personal background of experts. Especially people with long experience in working life increased their notions in all three categories. The results showed that people are well aware of the many factors that may influence the acquisition of scientific knowledge, as well as its use. Moreover, the results showed that the more education people have the more aware they are of the various interests. Because laypeople have experiences and viewpoints about various open questions and risks, it is suggested here that their opinions should receive more attention in the public discussion of similar issues.

Abstract In the 2000s, many European Union countries have established research impact assessment practices as part of the scrutiny of the third mission of universities. The Finnish research evaluation system has widely adopted a societal impact criterion. In this study, the question is what guiding principles does impact assessment rely on. This point of view is based on the experiences and opinions of experts interviewed for the study. Four implicit principles of impact assessment which guide assessment goals and practical implementations were found. The guiding principles have several social and methodological dilemmas due to liminal interpretations between social interests and academic endeavor. This study recommends that the evaluation scholars should consider the actual social purpose vis-à-vis consistent methodological approaches to assessment before applying ‘all-round’ solutions to scholarly fields.

Aims: Population-based gambling surveys provide important information about gambling frequency, problems, attitude and opinions of the general population. This information can be used by social and health care professionals, service providers and policy makers. However, low response rates may cause biased findings. The aim was to define the profile of non-respondents in the Finnish Gambling 2015 survey. Methods: The survey sample ( N = 7400) was obtained from the national Population Information System and the survey was conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviews (response rate 62%). The study sample including individuals aged 18–74 was linked to administrative registers to obtain socio-demographic information (sex, age, marital status, education, socio-economic status, net income, residential area) about the respondents and the non-respondents. Register-based information was used to build a non-respondent profile for the survey. Results: The non-response was more prevalent among women, 18- to 24-year-olds, non-married, individuals with primary education, unemployed (vs. self-employed and students) and residents in urban areas. When net income was added to the model, the associations of women and unemployed (vs. self-employed) with non-response became non-significant, while the non-response was more prevalent among the lowest quintile of net income. Conclusions: Socio-economic position was associated with lower response rate which may cause bias while studying gambling behaviour of socio-economically vulnerable individuals. Obtaining additional auxiliary information through record linkage to administrative registers and use of more sophisticated methods for controlling bias caused by non-response, such as multiple imputation, would offer information about the impact of non-response to the results related to gambling and gambling problems.

Climate change (CC) has widespread impacts on human and natural systems and thus threatens the future of contemporary youths. Only a few studies on climate change education (CCE) have been published in Finland, and no research has been conducted on upper secondary education. Thus, this study investigated Finnish university students’ views on CCE in upper secondary schools. According to them, the most common goals in CCE are increasing and structuring knowledge, developing thinking skills, and encouraging action both today and in the future. The respondents considered preconceived notions and opinions stemming from their inner circles, the media, and social debate to be the most difficult factor in teaching about CC. CCE was perceived to provide either a weak or relatively weak capacity to follow a climate-friendly lifestyle. By increasing and diversifying teaching and strengthening multidisciplinarity, climate-friendly lifestyles can be improved. The respondents’ views on current and future CCE differed most clearly concerning motivation and inclusion, which are not prevalent in contemporary teaching. The results indicate, however, that the university students were motivated to increase and develop CCE, and according their answers, their own capacity to address different aspects of CCE was relatively good.

People make mistakes in their thinking. Errors in human thinking and incorrect information contents in people’s mental representations can be found in everyday context such as in arguments about the current climate crisis. Erroneous thinking can cause false thought models such as climate change denialism and conspiracy thinking. Therefore, it is important to analyze the information contents of incorrect schemas or thought models. This can be done with an approach called content-based psychology. In this research we analyzed 2980 public opinions posted in Finnish Social Media Platform Suomi24 to study how people think about and what kinds of illusory contents they use in constructing their representations on climate issues. We wanted to ask whether one can find illusory thinking in social media posts and to outline a typical construction of a false thought model in conspiracy thinking related to climate change. As a result, we found that conspiracy thinking can be found in online media discussions, and it is strongly associated with climate change denialism. Also, different fallacious or biased thought models have combined effects in constructing active mental representations in conspiracy thought models. Analyzing mental contents makes it possible to understand denialist and illusory thinking, but it requires further work. Keywords: Climate change thinking,, Erroneous thinking, Content-based psychology, Denialism, Conspiracy thinking

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine Finnish ninth grade pupils’ (15-16 years) perspectives on hot school lunches and consider the potential of these perspectives as a resource for food and health education. Design/methodology/approach – Data include observations, essays, and visually elicitated focus group discussions from a larger qualitative case study. Data were collected during the term 2012-2013. Findings – Pupils considered the lunch break as their free time and valued discussions with friends. The taste of school food was important for them. Pupils solved contradicting expectations connected to school lunches through constructing social hierarchies, making compromises, and conforming to peers’ or general opinions. Desire for social belonging and independence were important justifications for breaking food-related rules. Research limitations/implications – Due to the focus on one school, further research needs to address contextual variation in different schools and age groups, as well as the viewpoint of teachers. Practical implications – To genuinely engage pupils, potential contradictions between adults’ and adolescents’ perspectives need attention. Understanding food-related social determinants and justifications for food practices from pupils’ perspective are valuable pedagogical assets for teachers. Pupils’ speech and activities that counteract formal aims can be seen also as possibilities for dialogue, rather than merely problems to be changed by adults. Originality/value – The paper describes how pupils’ perspectives to school lunch practices are in tension with the educational aims of school lunches, thus contributing to developing adolescent-centered food and health education in secondary schools.

This paper reports on an interview study with EFL learners that aimed to explore learners’ perceptions and views on English pronunciation teaching. The participants of the present study were ten EFL learners studying in the public educational system of Finland. Six of the participants were pupils attending basic education class nine, i.e. 15- to 16-year-old lower secondary level pupils. Two were primary level pupils attending basic education class four (aged 10), and two were upper secondary school pupils (aged 18). The interviews were thematic, and the learners were encouraged to speak freely about the English pronunciation teaching they were receiving and their opinions on this. In addition, they were asked to discuss their goals in English pronunciation, and to consider their pronunciation learning in class and out of class. The interviews were part of a wider study, mapping English pronunciation teaching practices in the context of Finnish schools. On the basis of the findings, the learners do not seem to have aspirations to native-like pronunciation, but rather aim at achieving intelligible and fluent speech. Only few reported an accent preference (British or American). The primary level learners expressed satisfaction with the amount of pronunciation teaching, whereas most of the lower and upper secondary level learners claimed that pronunciation teaching was insufficient. Despite their criticisms of their pronunciation teaching, the learners reported that they had learnt English pronunciation at school. In addition, many of the learners described learning pronunciation outside school, e.g. through media and personal encounters.

<p><em>News pertaining to Norway reported in the Finnish Nuntii Latini, 1989</em>–<em>2014. </em>The Nuntii Latini is a five-minute long, weekly news bulletin which the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) has been broadcasting under the editorship of Tuomo Pekkanen and Reijo Pitkäranta for the last 25 years, ever since 1989 (<a href="http://yle.fi/nuntii">http://yle.fi/nuntii</a>). The texts covering the first ten-year period (1989–1999) were published in a book series of five volumes. In the preface to vol. IV one finds the opinions of various foreign colleagues concerning these news bulletins. One of these is Synnøve des Bouvrie, who praises them as “highly useful for learning living Latin”. Norwegian subject matters have been treated almost 70 times in these emissions, that is two or three times per year. National celebrations commemorating Norway’s independence, such as the hundredth anniversary of the dissolution of the union with Sweden (2005) and the two hundredth anniversary of the Constitution (2014), have been reported. Various news about the royal family has figured as well; so have parlamentary decisions and strains in the relations between Norway and other far-northern territories. Much space has been allotted to the Norwegian Nobel Committee and its laureates, not least in the year 2008, when Martti Ahtisaari of Finland received the Nobel Peace Price. We have also reported how the Norwegians have succeeded in various international surveys, such as how the countries of the world fared in terms of the equality of men and women, economic prosperity, public health, and general welfare. Nor have we avoided to give publicity to the many glorious victories that Norwegian athletes (such as Dæhli and Thorkildsen) have made in various competitions. Likewise, Magnus Carlsen’s great achievement when becoming the world’s Number 1 in chess has been praised. It would have been impossible if sad disasters that have befallen Norway were not carefully treated as well. More than anything the hideous crime that Anders Behring Breivik committed in the summer of 2011 belong in this category. However, even devastating storms, natural disasters, and conflagrations which took their toll on the population and nature, have figured in our Nuntii Latini.</p>

The present article involves a qualitative study of the framing of dementia in ‘Alzheimer’s and Dementia’, the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, published in 2016. The aim of this study is to elucidate how dementia is framed qualitatively in the corpus consisting of scientific articles involving dementia published in ‘Alzheimer’s and Dementia’. The results of the qualitative analysis indicate that dementia is represented in ‘Alzheimer’s and Dementia’ in 2016 as the frames associated with gender, age, costs, caregiver and care-recipients, disability and death, health policy, spatial orientation, medical condition, and ethnic groups. These findings are further discussed in the article. References Andrews, J. (2011). We need to talk about dementia. Journal of Research in Nursing, 16(5),397–399. Aronowitz, R. (2008). Framing Disease: An Underappreciated Mechanism for the SocialPatterning Health. Social Science & Medicine, 67, 1–9. Bayles, K. A. (1982). 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Purpose: The purpose of the article is to assess the level of digital competence of young Poles against the background of selected European countries in the context of changes occurring in the labor market. Design/methodology/approach: The level of digital competence of young people from 30 selected European countries was diagnosed on the basis of the development pattern method by Z. Hellwig. To develop a synthetic Z. Hellwig measure, 23 diagnostic characteristics that reflect the level of skills of young Europeans in creating digital content, using databases, communicating and collaborating online, using ICT in different types of online activities, and protecting privacy and personal data online were selected. The study covered a group of young people aged 16-24, representing a potential labor supply that is particularly relevant to the development of the digital economy. Findings: In the light of the characteristics adopted for the study, the level of digital competence of young Poles is low. Young Finns, Maltese, Dutch, Spanish and Icelanders have the highest levels of digital competence. In contrast, particularly low levels of these competences are seen among young Bulgarians and Romanians. Research limitations/implications: The presented research can contribute to further in-depth analysis of the impact of the digital competency deficit on the economic development of the countries included in the analysis in the long term, including Poland in particular. Practical implications: The results of the research can provide guidance to public authorities in creating and evaluating strategies for the development of digital competences in Poland and the other countries covered by the study. Originality/value: The article indicates the changes that the labor market is undergoing as a consequence of the digital transformation of the economy. A synthetic indicator of digital competence was constructed, taking into account the diagnostic characteristics selected by the author of the article, which in their opinion are particularly relevant to the development of the digital economy. Leaders in the level of digital competence of young people have been identified. The distance between them and Poland was also diagnosed. The findings are addressed to the public authorities of the European countries surveyed. They can provide guidelines for the creation and evaluation of strategies for the development of digital competences in Poland and the other countries covered by the study. Keywords: digital competences, labor market, Z. Hellwig’s method, digital transformation. Category of the paper: Research paper.

Abstract: “The strong Baltic nationalistic centre” and Soviet foreign propaganda: from war to peace and toward the Cold War This special issue focuses on censorship, but it is difficult to treat censorship without also considering propaganda. This article discusses both censorship and foreign propaganda as complementary tools in the Soviet Union’s arsenal for manipulating public opinion in foreign countries. The purpose of such action was to shape the behaviour of those states to further Soviet interests. The article focuses on the use of propaganda and censorship in Soviet efforts to settle the “Baltic question”– the question of the future of the Baltic countries – in the 1940s. This was the time when the wartime alliance was crumbling and giving way to a cold-war confrontation. The article is based on Russian archival sources. The Molotov collection (F. 82), materials of the department of propaganda and agitation of the Central Committee (CC) of the CPSU (F. 17, opis 125), and of the CC department of international information (F. 17, opis 128) are stored in the Russian State Archive of Socio-political History (RGASPI). The collection of the Soviet Information Bureau (F. R8581) is located at the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF). The article also draws on previous research on Soviet propaganda, such as Vladimir Pechatnov’s and Wolfram Eggeling’s studies on the work of the Soviet Information Bureau (SIB) and on discussions in the Soviet propaganda apparatus in the early postwar years. However, this article digs somewhat deeper and alongside general developments, also looks at a particular case – the Baltic problem in the Soviet contest with the West for winning hearts and minds. It analyses Soviet policies without attempting to uncover and reconstruct all the twists and turns of the decision-making processes in Moscow. The archival material is insufficient for the latter task. Nevertheless, a look into the making of Soviet propaganda, the techniques and practices utilised to bring Soviet influence to bear on an important foreign-policy issue (the Baltic problem), is interesting for scholars working not only on propaganda and censorship but also on the history of the Soviet Union and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Baltic question was related, among other things, to the problem of repatriating people from the territories of the Soviet Union who had been displaced during the Second World War and were located in Western Europe at the war’s end. Moscow claimed that all these displaced persons (DPs) were Soviet citizens. This article helps correct the view, expressed for example by the Finnish scholar Simo Mikkonen, that the Soviet propaganda campaign to attract the remaining 247,000 recalcitrants back home started after a UN decision of 1951 that condemned repatriation by force. This article clearly shows that propaganda policies aimed at the DPs were in place almost immediately after the war, resting on the war-time experience of conducting propaganda aimed at national minorities in foreign countries. However, Mikkonen is right to point out that, in general, repatriation after the Second World War was a success, as approximately five million people in total returned to the USSR. The Baltic refugees were a notable exception in this regard. Research shows that despite displays of obligatory optimism, Soviet propagandists could critically evaluate the situation and the effectiveness of Soviet agitation. They understood that war-time successes were the result of the coincidence of a number of favourable factors: victories of the Red Army, Allied censorship and propaganda, the penetration by Soviet agents of the British propaganda apparatus, etc. They knew that the British media was extensively controlled and served as a virtual extension of Soviet censorship and propaganda. Nevertheless, the Soviets were wrong to assume that in the West, the free press was nothing but an empty slogan. Moscow was also wrong to expect that the Western media, which had worked in the Soviet interest during the war, could as easily be turned against the Soviet Union as it had been directed to support the USSR by political will. In actual fact, the Soviet Union started receiving negative press primarily because earlier checks on journalistic freedom were lifted. The Soviet Union may have been a formidable propaganda state internally, but in foreign propaganda it was an apprentice. Soviet propagandists felt inferior compared to their Western counterparts, and rightly so. In October of 1945, an official of the SIB noted jealously that the Foreign Department of the British Information Ministry had two thousand clerks and there were four hundred British propagandists in the United States alone. Another Soviet official in the London embassy noted in February of 1947 that they had so few staff that he was working under constant nervous strain. Soviet propagandists were aware of the problems but could not effect fundamental changes because of the nature of the Stalinist regime. The issue of foreign journalists working in Moscow was a case in point. The correspondents were handicapped in their work by extremely strict censorship. They could report mostly only those things that also appeared in Soviet newspapers, which was hardly interesting for their readers in the West. There had been suggestions that some restrictions should be lifted so that they could do more useful work and tell more interesting and attractive stories about the Soviet Union. Eventually, during Stalin’s first postwar vacation in the autumn of 1945, Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov took the initiative and tried to ease the life of the press corps, but this only served to provoke the ire of Stalin who proceeded to penalise Molotov in due course. This showed that the system could not be changed as long as the extremely suspicious vozhd remained at the helm. Not only did correspondents continue to send unexciting content to newspapers abroad (which often failed to publish them), the form and style of Soviet articles, photos and films were increasingly unattractive for foreign audiences. Such propaganda could appeal only to those who were already “believers”. It could hardly convert. Moscow considered the activities of Baltic refugees in the West and the publicity regarding the Baltic problem a serious threat to the stability of the Soviet position in the newly occupied Baltic countries. Already during the war, but even more vigorously after the war, the Soviet propaganda apparatus realised the importance of tuning and adapting its propaganda messages for audiences among the Baltic diaspora. The Soviet bureaucracy expanded its cadres to enable it to tackle the Baltic “threat”. Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian officials were dispatched to the central organs in Moscow and to Soviet embassies abroad to provide the necessary language skills and qualifications for dealing with Baltic propaganda and working with the diaspora. The policy was to repatriate as many Balts as possible, but it was soon clear that repatriation along with the complementary propaganda effort was a failure. The next step was to start discrediting leaders of the Baltic diaspora and to isolate them from the “refugee masses”. This effort also failed. The “anti-Soviet hotbed” of “intrigues and espionage” – the words of the Estonian party boss Nikolai Karotamm – continued to operate in Sweden, the United States and elsewhere until the end of the Cold War. All this time, the diaspora engaged in anti-Communist propaganda and collaborated with Western propaganda and media organisations, such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and even Vatican Radio. In the 1980s and 1990s, the diaspora was instrumental in assisting Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to regain their independence from the collapsing Soviet Union. They also helped their native countries to “return to Europe” – that is to join Western structures such as the European Union and NATO. Therefore, the inability to deal with the Baltic problem effectively in the 1940s caused major concerns for the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War and contributed to its eventual demise.

The short history of evaluation research can be described in terms of four developmental stages. The differences between the various approaches and stages of evaluation reflect, among other things, differences in understanding the importance of causality. The paper makes an attempt to argue that whilst it is important not to ‘let go’ the goal of discovering causal explanations, evaluation of such complex efforts as local prevention of alcohol and drug-related problems, needs to be based on a more naturalistic approach than the one provided by the classic experimental setting. This argument is based on previous literature and the experiences of evaluation of a Finnish project concerned with the community-based prevention of alcohol and drug problems. Evaluation can also assume a function more complementary to the partnerships, which are at the heart of community action through its formative role. Research does not have to limit itself to evaluating the effectiveness through the eyes of an outside ‘inspector’. One possible step forward in solving the complex problems of evaluation in this context could be an approach which combines the careful analysis of the context and the creation of a theory-based narrative of the action taking place in the ‘black box’, with measurement of changes. The precondition for being able to do this is that causality is understood in a new way, as generative causality. The theory-based narratives would also be useful in generalising the results of separate evaluation studies. Research which is relevant to questions of effectiveness, should pay more attention to the ‘black box’ of prevention. The nature of the ‘black box’ is determined not only by its inner qualities but also by being studied in relation to its wider context. Reaching generalisations is also one of the basic problems. The most reliable results are often derived from a synthesis of several studies focusing on the same topic rather than from a single study. In this respect evaluations resemble any other form of social study. Making a synthesis has become easier with the development of methods of meta-evaluation during the last 15 years. Another possible way of assisting generalisation would be to make use of theory-based narratives concerning the inner mechanisms of the communities in action. As an example of a project attempting to carry out research along these lines, the paper describes a project carried out in two small communities in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, Finland. The project attempted to move away from the use of standardised programmes and curricula towards a meaningful involvement of local citizens and professionals in the design and implementation of the community development. The evaluation of the project focuses on the question: is it feasible and effective to give the responsibility for alcohol and drug prevention to people at the local level? What does this mean in practice? Related to this question is the importance of national or regional level support for local communities. The project's finding was that while public discussion of community-based action can change people's opinions and make them more positive in their attitude to community-based prevention, local non-professional interest in dealing with alcohol-related problems is small. Without the professionals' input hardly anything would take place.

Keeping journalism socially relevant and financially viable is more challenging than ever. It might seem like a paradox, but in a time when news media is challenged by inadequate business models, precarious labor conditions and competition from platform companies, and contested by populist politicians, the public is consuming more news than ever before. The changing media landscape, technological platforms and structural conditions are influencing journalism, its practices and its roles in everyday life, society, culture, and politics—central topics when communication scholars gather at international and national conferences dedicated to media and communication research. The NordMedia Conference 2021 was arranged in the midst of an ongoing pandemic. It was supposed to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, but was ultimately held virtually. Naturally, the topics tended to focus on how journalists were covering the pandemic, but they also included studies on truth, disinformation and facts as well as technology in journalism in the form of AI and automation. The presenters were later invited to participate in this special issue, which celebrates Nordic scholarship and the Journalistica journal. In this issue, we bring together three studies that each illustrate the current developments within Nordic journalism research along with a book review of a book on political communication in the Nordics. Ethics and trust are common threads that run through the three articles published in this special issue of Journalistica. The articles cover very different topics—from podcasting as a genre, alternative media and comment moderation to ethics in local news media — and ethics and trust are recurring themes in the discussions. What constitutes as news today is increasingly blurred as it mixes with commercial content (influencers and content marketing — commercial genres that look like news), opinions (comments appearing as news) or false and manipulated content (fake news or disinformation). Many people, especially young adults, get their news from social media, and the newsfeed does not differentiate between different types of content. News from respected newsrooms has the same design as rumors from a suspicious website. Thus, users have to pay more attention to differentiate between the trustworthiness of the information. This blurring of content and genres is challenging for journalism’s trustworthiness. The articles in this special issue touch on some of the challenges appearing as a result of this blurring despite the long tradition of strong ethical guidelines for journalism in Nordic newsrooms. Nevertheless, the users of Nordic news are still demonstrating high levels of trust, among the highest in the 45 countries of the Reuters Digital News Report 2022 track. Finnish news users report the highest trust in news (69%), particularly the news they use (75%), followed by Denmark (58%/63%), Norway (56%/63%), and Sweden (50%/56%). Iceland was not included in Reuters’ survey. One factor that can help maintain and strengthen trust in news in the Nordic countries is strong ethical practices in newsrooms. Since the early 20th century, Nordic newsrooms and journalism organizations have developed ethical guidelines for journalism that are continually updated to reflect developments in the profession and society at large: Norway:​​Code of Ethics for the Norwegian Press Sweden: Rules of Professional Conduct Denmark: Press Ethical Rules Finland: Guidelines for Journalists Iceland: Rules of Ethics in Journalism Ethical guidelines and their practical implementation in the newsrooms can help Nordic journalists navigate the challenges emerging from the changing media landscape, competition from technological platforms and structural conditions influencing journalism. The articles in this special issue of Journalistica each offer a unique contribution to address some of these challenges.

THE SURVEYS Two consecutive alcohol consumption surveys were carried out in Poland in 1980 and 1985. In both of them quota samples of population 16 years of age and over were used, and the sizes of the samples were 1972 and 1808 respectively. The surveys were sponsored by the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology which is responsible for funding research on a broad range of topics related to alcohol, its effects, use and misuse. The fieldwork was carried our by specially trained interviewers of the Centre for Public Opinion Survey and Programme studies of the state Committee for Radio and TV in Warsaw, a well established public opinion poll institute working already for more than 30 years. The majority of items included in the questionnaires used in each survey were identical, only some were altered, dropped entirely, or substituted for by other formulations. The preliminary part of both questionnaires concerned the relations of the respondents with other people. This was followed by a group of several questions related to the last drinking occasion: place and company of drinking, kind and amount of alcohol consumed, and the reason for drinking. In the 1985 survey more detailed information on the last occasion of drinking was collected, viz. separate questions were asked in relation to the last occasion of consumption of spirits and that of the consumption of wine, as well as on the duration of these occasions. The persons who had not consumed alcohol during the twelve months preceding the interview were asked whether they had ever drunk before, and what the reasons were for their being teetotallers. All the respondents were requested to tell about their pleasant and unpleasant experiences with alcohol, and whether alcohol helped them or caused trouble in some situations listed in the questionnaire, and pertaining to their social and professional life. Apart from that, the respondents were asked to express their approval or disapproval of several statements concerning good and bad consequences of drinking. In this part of the questionnaire, in the 1985 survey several alterations were introduced in comparison with the former survey. What remained unchanged in the questions were those on being victimized during the last twelve months while drunk, or by a drunk person. The questions on drinking in excess or more often than desired, or binge drinking-asked in the 1980 survey - were replaced in the 1985 survey by questions forming the CAGE questionnaire. Other questions asked in both surveys concerned the consumption of moonshine alcohol and drinking at work. The concluding part of the questionnaires was designed to obtain information on the respondents age, sex, education, place of residence, kind of work, etc. In the above surveys, the-last-occasion approach was applied in order to estimate the size and the pattern of alcohol intake by the respondents. This approach is adopted in the majority of Polish alcohol consumption surveys, following the example of a Finnish researcher P. Kuusi. Both surveys were carried out in mid-September, i.e. after-summer holidays, during a normal working month, without any important religious or national festivities, which would have changed to some extent the ordinary drinking practices. THE BEVERAGES During the years 1980-1985, the size of the apparent consumption of alcoholic beverages changed considerably. According to the official data derived from the statistics on sales of commodities, in 1980 the per capita consumption amounted to 8.4 litres of pure alcohol, of which 71 per cent was drunk in spirits,15 per cent- in wine, and 14 per cent -in beer. The 1985 figures were: 6,8 litres, 67, 15 and 18 per cent respectively. It looks as if the total consumption decreased substantially (by 19 per cent), but the structure of beverages consumed remained fairly stable. However , according to the opinion shared by the majority of specialists on the subject, the drop in the officially recorded consumption was associated with a marked increase in moonshine alcohol, which resulted in raising the total consumption to at least the 1980 level. The results of the survey seem to support this assertion. The per capita self-reported consumption of alt alcoholic beverages amounted to 5.6 and 5,9 litres of pure alcohol in 1980, and 1985 respectively. Thus, instead of the 1985 drop, a slight increase occurred (by 5 per cent). Moreover, while. the self-reported consumption of the majority of the beverages remained stable a large increase was noted in the home-made beverages: the illegally distilled moonshine alcohol (spirits) and the legally made fruit wine. The consumption of moonshine spirits was in 1985 higher than that in 1980 by 130 per cent and the consumption of fruit wine was higher by 60 per cent. In1985,one-scventh of all alcoholic beverages consumed were home-made, while in 1980 - only one-thirteenth. As a result, the share of spirits in the total amount of alcohol consumed – whether legally or illegally distilled in 1985 exceeded the 71 per cent level of 1980. Between the years 1980 and 1985 the proportion of consumers of fruit wine and spirits within the population remained stable, and that of other beverages increased. In particular, the number of those who drank moonshine spirits doubled. With the exception of fruit wine drunk in 1985 by nearly one-third of men as well as women 16 years of age and over, other beverages were consumed by far more men than women. This was particularly the case as regards beer which was drunk by 70 per cent of men and only 20 per cent of women, and moonshine spirits which were drunk by 30 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women. Spirits, which in Poland means mostly vodka, were consumed by 85 per cent of men and 62 per cent of women, and wine by 46 and 39 per cent respectively. FREQUENCY AND AMOUNT The-last-occasion approach adopted in the surveys consists not only in asking the respondents of how much and of how long ago they had drunk for the last time each of, the alcoholic beverages enumerated in the questionnaire, but also in assuming that the occasions reported were typical for the ways the respondents drank. Frequency of drinking depends heavily, among other things, on the kind of' beverage. In the Polish culture, wine is the less frequently drunk alcoholic beverage. Two-thirds of its consumers drink it at most once a month, and half of all its consumers - at most once every three months. Home-made fruit wine is being drunk even less often. Only one in five or six wine consumers drink it once a week or more often. The consumers of spirits seem to be divided into two distinct groups, one formed by occasional drinkers (at most once a month) and the other by frequent drinkers (several times a month or even several times a week). The first group consists of one-third, and the other one of more than half of all spirits drinkers. One in five of them drinks spirits several times a week. Most evenly distrributed on the frequency scale of drinking were the consumers of beer. Nearly as many drank it every day, every week, every month or every three months. Similar picture emerges in respect of the amount drunk on one occasion. Regardless of the beverage, most consumers drink small quantities only. But there are also heavy drinkers who consume on one occasion at least a quarter of a litre of spirits, one litre of wine or more than one litre of beer. Those drinkers constituted one in five of spirits' consumers, even one in two of moonshine spirits consumers, and one in five of wine or beer consumers, less heavy drinkers are only among home-made fruit wine drinkers (one in ten). The information concerning the frequency of drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed makes it possible to separate four patterns of drinking: heavy and frequent, heavy and infrequent, moderate and frequent, moderate and infrequent. Among consumers of different beverages, the group of persons drinking moderately and infrequently was the most numerous particularly as regards the consumers of wine, and smaller degree the consumers of spirits and moonshine spirits, and to the smallest degree-the consumers of beer. Also the group of persons drinking heavily and infrequently were relatively numerous, apart from consumers of beer, among whom the second most numerous group was that of persons drinking moderately and frequently. Every fourth or fifth consumer of beer, every seventh consumer of home-made frit wine drank much and frequently. As regards persons, who drank any two of the above-mentioned beverages, a convergence of their drinking parents could be noticed which consisted in the following regularity: if one of the beverages was consumed according to one of the patterns, the other beverage was generally also consumed according to the same pattern. The above results were very similar in both surveys. However, in the 1985survey, a slight shift towards greater concentration of consumption could be noticed. One of the effects of drinking alcohol, and for some consumers probably also one of the aims of drinking, is to get drunk. Using the information from the 1985 survey on such factors as the kind and amount of beverages consumed, the duration of the drinking occasion, and the sex and weight of the respondent, the blood alcohol concentration was estimated for every drinking occasion reported. In about one quarter of drinking occasion this estimate could not be done due to the lack of some of the necessary data, most often that of the weight of the respondents. Only one in every five events of drinking spirits and one in three events of drinking wine have not caused a rise in blood alcohol concentration above the physiological level of 0,2 per mille. Getting drunk, i. e. overstepping the blood alcohol concentration of 1.5 per mille, occurred in 13 per cent of incidents of drinking spirits, 7 per cent of drinking wine, and 5 per cent of drinking home-made fruit wine. If related to the total number of drinking occasion of the above beverages this means that in Poland every day about 600 thousand persons would get drunk. Persons getting drunk were significantly more numerous among men than women, and as far as men are concerned among young (up to 40 years of age), less educated, blue-collar workers describing themselves as non-believers or non-worshiping believers. Among women only those who felt to be better off than average would drink significantly more often than others. DRINKING OCCASION One of the characteristic features of drinking alcohol in Poland is using the existing occasions or inventing them. Alcohol happens to be drunk in order to celebrate such events as family festivities (like name-days or birthdays), religious ceremonies (like baptism, confirmation or - in particular - wedding), national holidays, government ceremonies (like opening a factory, a museum'' new railway station or a bridge), other happy events (tike winning a match by a favourite soccer team, passing important examinati.ons by the son or daughter, their entrance to the high school or the university). Drinking occasion may be called for while looking for some comfort caused by losing a march by a favourite soccer team a set-back at work, or misfortune in personal matters. Alcohol is served and drunk in order to show hospitality, to emphasize the importance of a guest or an unusual, lofty, or particular character of the meeting, etc. This list could be easily extended, but it does not seen necessary as its aim is only to show that drinking alcoholic beverages - probably with the exception of beer only – is perceived as an event calling for special justification. This justification should not be equated with causes of drinking, deeply rooted and often not understood and realized clearly by the person in question. Therefore, the justification for drinking provides an insight not so much into the reasons of drinking as into its cultural context. Using the information on the kind and amount of alcohol drunk, on the place of drinking, character of the occasion, and, in the 1985 survey, also on the duration of the drinking incidence, three main types of spirits and wine consumption occasions were distinguished: a family celebration, a friendly social meeting, and a drinking-for-purpose event. The family celebration comprised nearly half of all drinking occasions described in the replies of the respondents. These occasions lasted longer than others, namely about 4 to 5 hours, with many persons taking part, the amount of alcohol drunk was smaller by half than the average amount and in more than 90 per cent of cases they took place in private quarters. The friends-meeting social type of drinking occasions were less numerous, they comprised about one-third of the total number of the last occasions reported. Half of them occurred in friends appartments, one-fourth on the respondents flats, and one in seven in a bar or restaurant. The meeting lasted about 2-3 hours, and the amount of spirits or wine drunk was somewhat larger than the average. Most often 4 to 5 persons took part in these encounters. One in five of the last occasions described by the respondents was of the drinking-for-purpose type. The most often stated justification for such a drinking occasion was that ,,it just happened this way" or ,,without any special reason, and the second in the row was that the drinking tock place in order to handle some business which made it necessary to have a drink’’. These occasions lasted usually l-2 hours and the company consisted of about 3-4 persons. Most often the meeting took place in a bar or a restaurant at work; relatively rarely in private appartments, and occasionally in a park or another commonly frequented place. Persons drinking on these type of occasions consumed twice as much alcohol as the average. The types and characteristics of drinking occasions did not change between 1980 and 1985; only few exceptions were noted, such as those with more alcohol drunk in private apartments and less in bars and restaurants. The same types of drinking occasions were fund in respect of consumption of spirits and wine, only home-made fruit wine did not seem to be drunk ,,for purpose’’ DRINKING AT WORK One of the special features of drinking practices in Poland is the consumption of alcohol at work. It takes place against the provisions of the labour law and in some circumstances also against criminal law. Every few years the authorities launch a campaign against drinking at work only to learn that it brings about temporary results. In order to understand the reasons for limited effects of such endeavours a closer look at a socialist enterprise is necessary' fn a state-controlled economy, a socialist enterprise is not. only a place where employees provide work in order to produce some commodities or services. One of the Polish leading sociologists described such an enterprise as a combination of an industrial plant, an office, and charity. Its peculiar social life stems from all the above factors, and it is only against this background that an appraisal of the data on drinking at work can be made. The 1980 survey revealed that two of every three respondents employed in the state-owned enterprises and offices had in the course of the last year prior to the interview drunk alcohol while at work. The results of the 1985 survey were markedly different since the affirmative answers to the question of drinking at work was given by one in every two such respondents. On the assumption of the last occasion approach an attempt was made at amount of drinking events at work. The numbers of such events in1980 and 1985 were 14.6 and 7.3 per one employee respectively. It seems to be a marked decrease, but is has to be seen whether it will be a lasting one. Drinking at work seems to be very common also in another respect. When looping at the characteristics of the consumer of alcohol at work they correspond closely to the characteristics of all drinking persons. The justification for drinking at work is very similar to that described above, only the family celebration and friends-meeting social types seen to merge into one. In 1980 nearly half, and in 1985 one-third the persons who drank at work did it while celebrating name-days or birthdays. One in five of those who drank at work did it ,,with no special reason" or because alcohol was offered by somebody, which corresponds to the drinking-for-purpose type. ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE Alcohol dependence is a very complex concept and it is debatable whether tackling it in a survey research can produce conclusive results. In the 1985 survey it was approached by means of one of the questionnaires used by medical practitioners. After reviewing several of such questionnaires, like MAST, SMAST, CAGE, MALT, Reich, the CAGE questionnaire was selected as the most suitable, among other things, because of its brevity. A common feature of all the above instruments is that they are in fact screening tests, and their aim is to spot out in a pool of patients those who might have an alcohol problem. These patients are referred afterwards to a qualified specialist for a proper examination and diagnosis. The use of such a questionnaire in a survey conducted in a general population is an extention of its application far beyond the limits of its original design, because in such a situation it is expected to provide a final ,,diagnosis" instead of pointing to persons suspected of being addicted to alcohol. In the circumstances both the sensitivity and specificity of the questionnaire become of utmost importance. The low specificity of the CAGE questionnaire makes it impossible to estimate- within the known limits of errors - the size of the group of alcohol dependent persons in the general population because a number of persons likely to be classified on its basis as being alcohol dependent in fact are not dependent. The size of the latter (i. e. those incorrectly classified as alcohol dependent) is partly a function of the size of the group of the alcohol dependent in the general population. The percentage of respondents who in the 1985 survey said ,,yes" to al1 the four questions of the CAGE questionnaire was 4.4, to three questions - 11.8, to two questions - I2.1, and to one question - 15.1. The results of the previous applications of the CAGE test show that four ,,yes" answers to the questionnaire questions were given only by alcohol dependent persons, and no such answers were given by persons not dependent. Hence it can be assumed that in the cases of all four ,,yes" answers one deals with alcohol dependent persons, without fear of making a serious error. As to the persons who gave three ,,yes" answers) one can assume among them a higher cumulation of alcohol dependent persons, and as regards those who said ,ryes" to two questions it can be hypothesised that there are few such persons among them. On the basis of the results obtained, the probable number of persons in 1985 in Poland in the age group of 16 years and over, who were alcohol dependent, has been estimated as somewhat higher than number of persons who said ,,yes’’ to all the four questions in the CAGE questionnaire, i. e. approximately 1,500 000, the error limits of this estimate, unfortunately, cannot be specified. The persons who gave a higher number of ,,yes’’ answers to the test questions drank largel quantities of alcohol. More answers of this kond were given by men, middle-aged persons and elderly (but not old), living in villages, not well-off, non-worshipping believers and non-believers. THE ABSTAINERS AND TEETOTALLERS Abstainers are referred to here as those who do not drink a particular alcoholic beverage, and teetotalers as those who according to themselves do not drink alcohol at all (1980 survey) or who did not consume alcohol during the last twelve months prior to the interview. Only 25 per cent of the respondents abstained from drinking spirits, about 25 per cent-from wine, 58 per cent (in 1980)and 50 per cent (in 1985)-from beer, 70 per cent (in 1980) and 64 per cent (in1985)-from home-made fruit wine, and 89 per cent (in 1980) and 79 per cent (in 1985)-from moonshine spirits. The were 14.8 per cent teetotalers in 1980 and 16.1 per cent in 1985, however, the difference in those percentages is statistically insignificant. In general population the fraction of teetotalers is probably a few points higher because in both the 1980 and 1985 samples the persons aged 16-19 and 60 and more, namely those among whom the non-drinkers are most numerous, were underrepresented. Less than half of the teetotalers never drank alcohol and the share of those who stopped drinking increased between the years 1980 and 1985. This result would have looked promising were it not for the reasons for not drinking given by the respondents. Most often old age, poor health, lack of money, and similar justification were offered, and only one in seven non-drinking alcohol respondent mentioned that drinking alcohol would interfere with his studies or work, or against his beliefs or cherished values. Also the social characteristics of teetotalers give reason for worry: among these overrepresented are very young and elderly, women, poorly educated, blue-collar workers, poor-in general those who belong to the lower social strata of the population. To be a teetotaler in Poland is unenviable.