Bíonn an chaint saor: fímínteacht na meán san Fhionlainn

Panu Höglund

I ndeireadh Mhí Feabhra d’fhógair príomheagarthóirí na nuachtán Fionlannach i gcomhdhoiciméad go raibh siad meáite ar chath a chur ar na leathanaigh ghréasáin a bhíos ag scaipeadh bolscaireachta in aghaidh na ndídeanaithe agus cloí le heitic cheart iriseoireachta ina gcuid tuairisceoireachta féin. 

Bhí ceann de na leathanaigh seo tar éis ionsaí pearsanta clúmhillte a dhéanamh ar Jessikka Aro, iriseoir agus craoltóir, ó bhí sí ar an ngearrliosta do mhórghradam iriseoireachta na Fionlainne i ndiaidh a hailt faoin dóigh a mbíonn an leathanach sin ag spalpadh bréag agus ag scaipeadh luaidreán.

Is é an chéad rud a ritheas leat ná buíochas a ghlacadh leis na príomheagarthóirí as an seasamh daingean seo in aghaidh bholscairí, chlúmhillteoirí agus mhionsceimhlitheoirí an idirlín. Scéal eile áfach an bhfuil an forógra seo inchreidte ar aon nós – an té atá ag tabhairt achasáin uaidh, an bhfuil sé chomh maith is a thugas sé le fios? Le fírinne más fíor go ndeachaigh caighdeán na díospóireachta poiblí ó mhaith ar fad nuair a shealbhaigh na dronga eagraithe de chiníochaithe an tidirlíon Fionlainnise go léir, an ea nach raibh milleán ar bith ar na meáin sheanbhunaithe?

Nuair a chaith mé féin mo sheal ag scríobh colúin d’iris idirlín a bhí á cothbháil ag ceann de mhórchomhlachtaí meán na Fionlainne, bhí mé go laethúil, a bheag nó a mhór, faoi ionsaí ag gramaisc linseála Idirlín na heite deise antoiscí. Ó bhí éad ar threoraí tuairimí na gramaisce céanna liom mar gheall ar an nGaeilge, agus é féin ina theangeolaí agus ina ilteangach? Sin teoiric amháin atá agam. Is féidir an scéal a thuiscint ar bhealach eile fós: is fuath leis na ciníochaithe aon duine a bheith ag tacú leis an íochtarán, agus mar sin is fuath leo aon duine a bheith ag iarraidh teanga neamhfhorleathan cosúil leis an nGaeilge a athbheochan.

Cibé ábhar a roghnaigh mé do cholún an lae, ar nós seanscannáin ghreannmhara Fhionlannacha nó sraithscéal teilifíse éigin ó na seachtóidí, bhí an drong seo i mbosca na bhfreagraí agus iad ag stealladh a gcuid seafóide. Tacaíocht nó cosaint ní bhfuair mé riamh in aghaidh lucht an chiníochais – a mhalairt ghlan a bhí fíor an chorruair a bhí feiminí éigin nó radacach ón eite chlé ag éileamh ar an gcomhlacht deireadh a chur le mo cholún, ar ndóigh. Sa deireadh chaill mé post an cholúnaí ar shiocair eacnamaíochta éigin mar is gnách na laethanta seo: ba léir le fada an lá, áfach, go raibh an comhlacht ag iarraidh fáil réitithe díom faoi bhrú ó lucht an chiníochais.

Níl anseo ar ndóigh ach an bhó atá le cur thar abhainn agam féin, ach tá samplaí eile ann freisin. Tá aithne agam ar iriseoir proifisiúnta a chaith seal fada ag obair sa Bhruiséil agus líofacht Fraincise agus Spáinnise aige – teangacha nach bhfuil ag mórán san Fhionlainn. I rith bliain go leith scríobh sé trí cholún ag cáineadh na Nua-Naitsithe, an dóigh ar éirigh leo greim a fháil ar phríomhshruth na polaitíochta agus an dóigh a ndearna na meáin neamhshuim de smaointeachas na droinge Nua-Naitsíche a rinne fódú i bpáirtí na bhFíor-Fhionlannach. An chéad uair eile a bhí an nuachtán ag sacáil iriseoirí ar chúiseanna eacnamaíochta, ba é an fear seo ba thúisce a chaill a jab.

Mar sin sna blianta a chuaigh thart ní raibh mórán fonn ar na meáin phríomhshrutha a gcuid iriseoirí agus colúnaithe a chosaint ar ionsaithe lucht an chiníochais. A mhalairt ar fad. Tá cuma na fímínteachta ar fhorógra na bpríomheagarthóirí anois, ó tá an mordadh déanta cheana féin. 

Thairis sin ní mór gné eile d’fhímínteacht na meán a lua. Nó nuair a bhíos na leathanaigh bholscaireachta ag scaipeadh luaidreán nó glanbhréag faoi dhídeanaithe a d’éignigh (mar dhea) cailíní óga Fionlannacha, is minic a ghlacas na nuachtáin phríomhshrutha na ráflaí seo i ndáiríre. Ar ndóigh, i ndiaidh dóibh ráfla den chineál seo a fhoilsiú mar ábhar nuachta, is gnách leis na gnáthmheáin an botún a admháil má thagann chun solais nach raibh ann riamh ach bréag (rud nach ndéanfadh na leathanaigh bholscaireachta). Ach ansin is beag an difríocht é, ó tá an bhréag ar fud na tíre cheana féin agus í creidte ag lucht léite na nuachtán.

Scríbhneoir Gaeilge ón bhFionlainn é Panu Petteri Höglund.

Talk is cheap: the hypocrisy of Finnish media

Panu Höglund

At the end of February, the editors-in-chief of the main Finnish newspapers declared in a joint document that they were bent on opposing websites that spread propaganda against asylum-seekers, and on observing strict journalist ethics in their own reporting.

One of those sites had started personally attacking and slandering journalist and broadcaster Jessikka Aro as she had been shortlisted for Finland’s greatest journalism award for an article about how that particular site spreads lies and rumours.

The first thought to occur is to be grateful for this strong stance against the propagandists, slanderers and petty terrorists of the internet. It is another story entirely whether the editors’ declaration is at all plausible – or if it is just a case of the pot calling the kettle black. In fact, if the quality of public discourse in Finland has gone through the floor since organised racist gangs took possession of the Finnish-language internet, is it true that the mainstream media weren’t responsible for that at all?

Back when I wrote columns for a website maintained by one of Finland’s media giants, I was attacked practically every day by the extreme right-wing lynch mob of the internet. Because the opinion leader of said mob was professionally jealous of my knowledge of the Irish language, being a polyglot and a linguist himself? That is one theory, but there is another one: racists simply hate anybody who sides with the underdog, and thus they hate anybody who tries to revive a lesser-used language such as Irish.

Whatever I wrote about in the column of the day, be it old Finnish comedy films or some TV soap from the seventies, that lot was always upon me with their usual nonsense. I never got much support from the producers against racists – of course, if I had irritated feminists or left-wing radicals with something I wrote, so that they demanded the company to discontinue my column, I was always supported and protected. In the end I lost my job on some feeble economic excuse, as is usual these days: it had been obvious for some time that they wanted to get rid of me because of the pressure from racists.

This is obviously just axe-grinding from my side, but there are other examples. I know a professional journalist who worked for a long time in Brussels, as he happens to be fluent in French and Spanish – neither language is spoken by many Finns. Over 18 months he wrote three columns criticising neo-Nazis who have been able to gain a foothold in mainstream politics and infiltrate the True Finns party without the media paying attention to their ideology. The next time his paper was sacking people for economic reasons, he was the first to lose his job.

So in recent years, mainstream media in Finland have shown little desire to defend their journalists and columnists against racist attacks. Quite the opposite. Now the declaration of the editors-in-chief sounds like hypocrisy because permanent damage has already occurred.

Moreover, there is another kind of hypocrisy involved. When propaganda sites are spreading rumours or even lies about asylum seekers having raped young Finnish girls, mainstream papers tend to take these rumours seriously. Of course, if they do publish some such story as a news item, they usually admit their mistake when it turns out that the story was a lie to start with – propaganda sites would not do that. But then it makes little difference, as the lie has already been read, and believed, everywhere in the country.

Panu Petteri Höglund is a Finnish writer of Irish expression.