Journalists Matter, Council of Europe Campaign for the Safety of Journalists
The Council of Europe encourages member states to transpose the Campaign to the national context. Without each member’s committed and effective effort at national level, through the development of the so-called ‘national chapter’, the Campaign cannot reach its goals.
In this section, we will present developments in Finland:
National Focal Point
Mr Vesa KEKÄLE, Senior Specialist, Unit for Russia and Central Asia, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
National Campaign Committee
Following a consultation process with national stakeholders, Finland established a national committee involving in its creation Mediapooli(chair), the Union of Journalists of Finland, News Media Finland, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The composition of the committee is based on consultations with different involved actors in Finnish society. The Media community has the ownership in the committee and in the national implementation of the campaign.
The committee, which has already started its work, oversees planning, coordinating of activities related to the campaign through a dialogue with different actors in society and an updated knowledge on the topic. It is holding regular meetings.
The country is ranked 5th in media freedom and has already shown a strong involvement towards better identification of needs and priority areas, tools for journalists’ safety, media literacy, awareness, best practices sharing etc. Finland is transposing the European Media Freedom Act from 2024 while following development of anti-SLAPP legislation.
Finland, National chapter
