Hujanen & Pietikainen 2004 Interactive Uses Of Journalism Crossing Between Technological Potential And Young Peoples News Using Practices

New Media & Society
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Interactive Uses of Journalism: Crossing Between Technological
Potential and Young People’s News-Using Practices
Jaana Hujanen and Sari Pietikäinen
New Media Society 2004; 6; 383
DOI: 10.1177/1461444804042521

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new media & society
Copyright © 2004 SAGE Publications
London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi
Vol6(3):383–401 DOI: 10.1177/1461444804042521

ARTICLE

Interactive uses of
journalism: crossing
between technological
potential and young
people’s news-using
practices
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

JAANA HUJANEN
¨
SARI PIETIKAINEN
University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Abstract
The article examines the interactive uses of journalism,
focusing on the changes brought by new communication
technology in the everyday news media uses of young Finns.
The study is based on a survey and in-depth interviews. The
results indicate that even though young Finns have easy
access to new communication technology, journalism is still
predominantly used via television and printed newspapers.
While nearly all subjects followed news regularly, a ﬁfth of
the respondents had taken advantage of participatory
activities offered by the news media. Consequently,
technology alone does not seem to alter news practices. The
interactive usage of journalism thus seems to be
individualized entertainment for the majority of the young
people that were studied, and only for few was it a platform
for active citizenship. The everyday practices of using
journalism via new media point towards heterogeneous
activity and the conﬂicting meanings given to them.

383

New Media & Society 6(3)

Key words
everyday life • interactivity • journalism • new media •
news • participation • young people

INTRODUCTION
New communication technologies are believed to bring about changes
in journalism: to attract younger generations of users, increase media supply,
and change practices of using and making news. One of the most
frequently-discussed changes is interactivity – the increasing opportunity to
communicate across ‘old’ boundaries of time and place, and between
journalists and citizens. These real or potential changes are signiﬁcant as
news is an important part of contemporary western societies. As with
journalism, which is not only about informing people about recent ‘factual’
events but also a profoundly cultural sense-making practice of modernity
(Hartley, 1996), not only does news provide stories on recent events, but
through ritualized performance and consumption they affect social life as
well as the everyday life of the citizens (Allan, 1999).
The shortage of everyday experiences and research results of the impact
of new communication technology on journalism has left room for various
speculations on the nature and direction of these changes. Characteristically,
discussion has been polarized, either focusing on the positive potential of
new communication technologies or on their negative consequences. The
positive potential is seen to lie in the possibility to transform ‘mere’
consumers of news into participants, even makers of their own media texts
and journalism (Heinonen, 1999: 82), whereas the ‘downside’ is believed to
manifest itself in further fragmentation of audiences and losing a sense of
community, shared citizenship and common public sphere (Buckingham,
1998).
The underpinning argument is that if new communication technology
enhances citizens’ willingness and ability to participate, the distance between
the elite and citizens should become shorter. Likewise, both journalists and
audience would be closer to each other. Ideally, meaningful public
discussion within the platform of journalism would be reinforced: today’s
rather elitist, conﬂict-centred news would be transformed into a source of,
and an arena for, vivid dialogue between citizens and authorities and
politicians. Ultimately the news, for its own part, would revive and
strengthen democracy. This line of thinking stems from the ideology of
public journalism, where the task is not only to inform citizens but also to
enhance meaningful public discussion and participation (Heikkil¨ anda
Kunelius, 1997; Rosen, 1991; Sirienni and Friedland, 2001). Although these
goals may well be idealistic, this kind of journalism is needed: the critique
of journalism – voiced in journalism research as well as by the decreasing
numbers of news users – points out that the news tends to position citizens

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Hujanen & Pietikainen: Interactive uses of journalism
¨

as outsiders and bystanders. Thus, it ignores the potential for meaningful
dialogue and participation among people (Hujanen, 2000: 250–251;
Pietik¨ inen and Hujanen, 2003).
a
There is little research on interactive journalism from the perspective of
media use practices. The challenges and opportunities created by the
development of new communication technologies in journalism are evident,
but what remains open is what is changing – if anything – and how. One
important way in which to examine this is to study the needs and
motivations of people to take up this potential, and the conditions
enhancing or limiting these processes. After all, changes in the practice of
using journalism reﬂect not so much technological developments than
sociocultural ones. Consequently, we believe that citizens play a pivotal role
in determining how, and to what extent, new communication technology
changes journalism.
In this article, we are interested in the possible changes in the usage of
journalism that are brought about by new communication technology in
people’s everyday lives,1 here, we focus on the relationship between this and
young Finns. Given the critique of journalism and the promise of new
communication technologies, we are interested in examining whether new
communication technologies have powerful potential: whether they can
increase interaction, transform news users into news-makers and enhance
public discussion on news sites. We study the kinds of conditions in which
this potential is realized, as well as what limits or prevents such changes
from occurring. We trace possible changes in the everyday news media use
of young Finns by asking them how they use journalism and what the role
of new communication technologies is.
We focus on young people, as they are believed to be in the vanguard of
new media change. Young people are often referred to as active and
competent users of new technology, and talked about as ‘the new media
generation’ (Buckingham, 1998; Drotner, 2000; Johnsson-Smaragdi and
J¨ nsson, 2001; S¨ ss, 2001). They are also believed to be interested in new
o u
technologies, enthusiastic to try new forms of media and capable of quickly
learning the necessary new skills. Consequently, their everyday use of the
new media within the context of journalism could indicate possible future
developments and changes.
Finland offers a particularly interesting social context in which to study
new media usage: it is among the highest ranking countries in the world in
terms of mobile phones, internet access and use as well as reading
newspapers. As the home country of Nokia, Finnish people form the testing
ground for latest innovations. Some have even claimed Finland to be an
example of a virtual society (Castells and Himanen, 2001). In addition, the
Finnish news media has utilized new technology in making journalism:
newspapers, television news and current affairs programmes all produce

385


online news and invite people to participate in news through online
discussion forums and polls.
Our data consists of a large survey conducted among young Finns, and of
in-depth interviews of some of these young people. The statistical findings
establish general patterns and tendencies of the interactive use of journalism
among young Finns. By analysing interviewees’ discussions, we examine the
meanings that they give to the interactive use of journalism and the
limitations and conditions that they find important either in hindering or
reinforcing interaction.
We begin by examining the discussion on the new media within the
context of journalism, public discussion and citizenship. Next, we give a
brief description of our data and methods used. Then we move on to
present our findings regarding the participation of young Finns in the news
media and the role of new communication technology in interaction.
Finally, we discuss the transitions brought about by the new media in the
everyday use of journalism among the young Finns on the verge of the new
millennium. We also ponder on the consequences of these transitions, or
lack of them, within the context of the new media, journalism and practices
of citizens’ everyday lives.

NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN
JOURNALISM
The complex processes through which new technological inventions
integrate into the everyday lives of citizens, practices of institutions and
wider cultural practices, are essentially discursive. That is to say that an
essential part of these processes is how and what people say, read and hear
about new communication technologies, what kind of representations are
circulated, and which of them are preferred and dominant. Consequently,
changes – real, hypothetical, partial – exist not only as materialized ‘reality’
but also as discursive phenomena (Fairclough, 1992). Much of the
technological development thus takes place within and through discourse:
new technologies are introduced, debated over and signified in language use.
The implication is that discourse is part of social practice and has influential
signifying power (Foucault, 1972; Mills, 1997). Consequently, the social and
language are seen as interrelated: on the one hand, the use of language
constructs the social, and on the other hand, the social underpins, constrains
and manifests itself in the use of language (Pietik¨ inen, 2000). This kind of
a
discourse analytical framework is a fruitful starting point for examining the
symbolic aspects of interactive journalism and their relevance for everyday
practices of using news.
As a theoretical device, the concept of discourse helps us to differentiate
the various perspectives from which interactive journalism is constructed and
consequently, the makers, users and the role of new technology are

386

¨

positioned. By a discourse we mean the language used in representing a
given social practice from a particular angle (Fairclough, 1992; Hall, 1997).
Thus, discourses are ways of signifying particular domains of knowledge or
social actions from particular points of view. Since discourses are about
making sense of the social, it follows that there are always various views,
and consequently, different discourses about the social. The discourses
themselves are structured and interrelated. Some are more prestigious and
legitimate, while others have to struggle to gain recognition. (Hall, 1997;
Pietik¨ inen, 2000).
a
A more analytical use of the concept helps us to illuminate the
interrelated and complex aspects of the discursive construction of interactive
journalism and practices of its everyday use. Importantly, each discourse
suggests a different kind of subject position for social actors related to this
domain. Therefore, there are various discourses available, each positioning
people and the relationship between groups of people differently. Depending
on whether journalism is seen, for example, through discourses of
information, entertainment or democracy, people are positioned differently,
as (news) consumers or citizens. Of course, individuals may or may not
reject such a position in their everyday practices of using journalism, but
they are forced to take a stand.
By drawing on previous research we have identiﬁed three discourses that,
in our opinion, are relevant in discussing new technology, journalism and
practices of news consumption. The discourses are: ‘pick and choose’, ‘user
in transition’ and ’multivoicing journalism’. We do not think that these are
the only discourses that contribute to constructing interactive journalism,
but they are relevant in examining the possible changes brought by new
technology within practices of using journalism. Although these discourses
are closely intertwined, each captures a different aspect of possible or
realised changes in interactive usage of journalism. ‘Pick and choose’
highlights changes in supply and demand, whereas ‘user in transition’
concentrates on the activation and expansion of a ‘mere’ recipient of news
into an active participant. Finally, ‘multivoicing journalism’ centres on wider
transitions towards more interactive and dialogic journalism. Next, we move
on to discuss each discourse more in detail.

‘Pick and choose’
This discourse is dominant in marketing new forms of journalism available
through new communication technologies, such as online newspapers or
mobile phone news. It sets up dual representation of journalism and its
users. On the one hand, journalism is represented as a service for eager
consumers. New communication technology would improve news services
as supply expands and opportunities for individualized practices of using
news according to one’s own schedule and priorities increase (Heinonen,

387


1999: 81). Relevant to our interests is that the users are positioned as
individual consumers, who are well-served with a wide choice of news
according to their taste, interest and time. On the other hand, ‘pick and
choose’ discourse focuses on concerns threatening the quality of journalism.
The main concern is that instead of striving for better journalism with the
help of new technologies, new innovations are used mainly on economic
grounds, to increase the market and lower production costs. The goals of
increasing dialogue in journalism and facilitating public participation would
be set aside and the direction of the development would be the opposite:
practices of using news would be steered to an even more fragmented and
entertaining direction, thus undermining the very purpose of journalism
(Bardoel, 1996: 292; Papacharissi, 2002). As the new media is not available
to everyone, technological changes may increase inequality among citizens
(Tambini, 1999: 306). Then, new technologies in journalism would weaken
its role as an arena for public discussion.

‘User in transition’
This discourse focuses on the potential increase of the interactive use of
journalism and the idea of increased blurring between making and using the
media (texts). Digital media is represented in particular as almost inherently
interactive, whereas ‘old’ media is easily seen as non-interactive and one-
dimensional (Bardoel, 1996: 287; Bucy and Gregson, 2001; Heinonen,
1999: 37–9; Tambini, 1999). As new communication technologies are
portrayed in this way, media making and using practices also become
interactive. In journalism, news users would not only read or watch news or
listen to it, but would be interested in making contact with newsrooms and
journalists. Hence, this discourse positions news users at the verge of
transition – a change from ‘mere’ users into participants, makers of media
texts and journalism, and ultimately, into active citizens in society. In a
positive reading, not only is communication between audience and
journalists believed to increase but also the dialogue between citizens and
decision-makers. From the viewpoint of our study, an essential feature of
this discourse is its focus on young people, who are believed to be
particularly enthusiastic to try out new, interactive ways of using the media.
In other words, young people (more than anyone else) would be the part of
the audience that would make the most of technological changes, in
contacting people virtually, discussing, commenting and participating.
At the same time, the vision of news users becoming makers of their own
media texts is seen as utopian. A critical version of ‘user in transition’
discourse brings up the implementations of everyday usage needed for
interactive use of the new media: mere technology does not result in
interactivity – users’ motivation, competence and actions are needed also
(Forn¨ s, 1999; Heinonen et al., 2001: 125–6; N¨ r¨ nen, 1999; Tambini,
a aa

388

¨

1999: 322). Another critical point arising in this discourse is that the
interactive use of the ‘old’ media is often downplayed (Pietil¨ , 2001: 19). In
a
addition, it may well be that the attraction of journalism is still within its
organized, familiar structure (Kuusisto and Sirkkunen, 1999). Professional
practice and journalists’ privilege to make news may also collide with
citizens’ attempts to contribute to news-making.

Multivoicing journalism
This discourse represents a new kind of journalism: instead of one-
dimensional, monologic news, journalism would become – via the
interaction of people that is prompted by new communication technologies
– multivoiced, entailing multiple voices and perspectives (Heinonen, 1999:
82). In this discourse, journalism is portrayed as a resource for citizenship.
Also, the main task of the news media is seen to be a forum for public
debate. Typically, the viewers and readers of the news are positioned in the
discourse as citizens and people who are motivated to participate in public
discussion and act for the common good. These representations are familiar
from discussion on public journalism (Friedland, 1996: 201–6; Sirienni and
Friedland, 2001: 188–93) and on participatory research projects in which
the roles of journalism and new communication technologies have been
studied. For example, the focus has been on how interactive journalism
reinforces and strengthens public discussion and local participation of citizens
(Heinonen et al., 2001).
However, it can be argued that much of the ideals of civic journalism are
unrealistic: people’s possibilities and competence to participate in journalism
and public affairs vary drastically. For us, an essential critical point relates to
the question of people’s motivation to participate in public discussion and,
thus, to contribute to multivoicing journalism. Further, what would be the
result if most citizens participated in journalism by voicing their opinions
and making their own texts?

THE STUDY IN CONTEXT
The data of the study was collected in two phases, comprising a large
survey and in-depth interviews. The survey was conducted in autumn 1999
among young Finns, who were recruited from the population in central
Finland born in 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1986. A total of 800 people and 100
respondents of each sex per age group were selected at random, contacted
and asked to participate in the survey. A total of 700 young people returned
the questionnaire, and two were discarded, thus forming a group of 698
respondents representing a response rate of 87 percent. The sample included
337 male and 361 female respondents. As regards their media environment,
the respondents represent young Finnish people, apart from those living in

389


the northern part of the country or in the capital, where access to media is
different.
The majority of the respondents were pupils or students and still living
with their parents. They had access to a large variety of different media,
varying from newspapers and television to mobile phones and the internet.
Nearly all of them had a television, radio, stereo and telephone at home. In
their personal possession or use, a majority had a mobile phone, three-
quarters had a computer and almost a half had access to the internet at
home. The survey included 121 questions regarding e.g. media ownership,
uses of different media and media texts. Here, we focus on findings
regarding participation in the media, particularly the news media. The
survey was coded for SPSS-database and analysed statistically (for details, see
Luukka et al., 2001).
In the second phase, qualitative interviews were carried out among the
respondents. We used the survey findings to detect young people that had
indicated their interest in news (Hujanen and Pietik¨ inen, 2001) and had
a
just begun, or were on the verge of beginning, to lead an independent life,
thus being free to make their own media choices. We interviewed 11 of
them. In addition, we interviewed three young people outside the sample in
order to make sure that a rich spectrum of experiences of using and making
sense of the (new) media was included in the data. The interviewees were
19–26-years-old; half of them were girls and half were boys. For the
interviews, we used the survey findings of each interviewee as background
as well as biographical information. This allowed a dialogue between the
quantitative and qualitative methods and findings.
During the interview the young Finns were asked about the role of news
in their lives, the significance of new communication technology in using
news, and about participating in making journalistic texts. The interviews
were conducted in summer to autumn 2001 and each lasted between one
and two hours. The interviews were taped and transcribed, and the data
analysed using qualitative text analysis. In the analysis, we focused on
moments where the interviewees talked about their interactive uses of the
news media, meanings, conditions and limitations.
With these two different kinds of data our aim is to examine both the
general patterns as well as individual experiences of using journalism at a
time when the availability of the news via new media was a new reality.
Although we are aware of the possible incompatibility of quantitative and
qualitative data, we believe that the two can be complementary and result in
a rich, interesting picture of the impact of new communication technologies
on the everyday use of journalism among young people. Further, to
highlight the relationship between the young people’s practices of using
journalism and the discursive construction of interactive journalism, we look
at our findings in relation to the three discourses introduced above. By

390

¨

doing this, we hope to explore how, and to what extent, the everyday usage
of journalism reflects, reinforces, legitimizes or challenges the user positions
suggested in the discourses.
Next, we present our findings regarding the participation of young Finns
in television, newspapers and online newspapers. By participation we mean
ways in which ‘mere’ reception of news texts transforms into more
interactive action. In practice this could mean, for example, writing texts,
participating in polls or giving feedback to journalists. As our aim is to
examine the possible changes brought by the new media in practices of
using journalism, we will present findings indicating such changes, or the
lack of them. In order to do this, we will focus on the instances of new
technology in everyday use of journalism, as well as on the absence of the
impact of the new media on usage of news. We look at the potential
moments or locations of change in forums of news usage, frequency,
methods and motivation for participating in journalism. We will discuss each
of these in turn.

RESULTS
Forums of news usage
In the light of our findings, new communication technologies have not
changed the usage of journalism radically among young Finns at the turn of
the millennium. Regardless of the availability of, and possibilities to follow,
the news in digital forums, as alluringly described in ‘Pick and choose’
discourse, the vast majority of young Finns preferred printed newspapers
and television news as their primary forum of following news. Of the young
Finns, 42 percent followed television news daily and an almost equal
number (39%) read news in a newspaper daily. In contrast, young Finns
used digital forums for following news much less frequently, although three
out of four had access to the internet at home, and two out of three had
their own mobile phone. Even though 65 percent were familiar with news
on the internet, only very few (3%) read news on the internet daily. For
example, only two respondents said that they read online newspaper news
daily, and nine youngsters used mobile phone news daily.
As for the interviewees, the digital news forums did not appear attractive
either. Although all of them were familiar with news sites and had visited
them as part of school assignments or had come across them while surfing
the internet, following news via new communication technology was not
common. Reasons for this were, for example, that the news were not ‘that
interesting’ (Pekka) and ‘why bother, since everything is offered nicely in
television news or in newspapers’ (Jouni). A major factor in preferring print
journalism to the online version was that paper was considered to be more
user-friendly – the interviewees felt that it was easier and nicer to read news
stories on paper than on-screen. As one of the interviewees (Pete) explained:

391


‘it is hard to take the computer with you on the bus or train whereas you
can easily carry a paper and throw it away if necessary.’ Thus, the technical
nature of digital forums also contributed to favouring the more traditional
news media among the young Finns.
The participants also had misconceptions regarding charges to use news
sites:

I’ve never visited it since you have to pay for reading it. (Juho)

Alternatively, they felt that the sites were difficult to find and that in the
end, they did not offer anything special:

I don’t think they offer anything new, not so much that it would make sense
visiting them. (Akseli)
The disadvantage with the Net is that if you don’t know a particular address,
sites are difficult [to find]. (Kaisa)

Only exceptional events, such as the Jolo hostage situation with Finnish
hostages, had prompted a few youngsters to browse the news on the
internet.

Making contact
The often-repeated claim, conveyed by the ‘user in transition’ discourse, is
that new communication technologies prompt media users to make contact,
give feedback and write their own news stories. Our findings of the
interactive usage of new communication technologies in journalism indicate
that the reality is more contradictory. The young Finns were familiar with
new communication technologies and recognized their potential for easier
interactive communication. Still, new communication technologies were not
used interactively to any greater extent in everyday consumption of news.
The possibility of contacting the news media intrigued a relatively small
number of young people; while nearly all young Finns followed the news
media regularly (85%), 18 percent of them had contacted the news media.
Interestingly, interaction with newsrooms was an action favoured among
young Finnish girls, particularly those aged 17–19. Among our respondents,
25 percent of 17–19-year-old girls and 22 percent of 13–15-year-old girls
had contacted the news media, whereas only 15 percent of older boys and
10 percent of younger boys had done the same. However, among those who
had been in touch with the news media, only very few had contacted them
several times.
If we turn to the means of making contact (N = 375), the ambivalence
becomes even more evident. The often-repeated claim that new ways to
contact the media gradually replace traditional means of communication was
not true in everyday life of young Finns. Namely, one-third (34%) of all

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contact took place via email. Traditional means of communication had not
been replaced, since one-third of contact (33% ) took place by sending a
card or writing a letter. Further, even though a vast majority of the
respondents had a mobile phone, only one-fifth (19%) of the contact was
made by a mobile phone. Text messages (short messaging service, or SMS)
were used even less: although a great majority reported that they ‘texted’
daily, only 6 percent of contact with the news media took place through
SMS.
As targets for contact, the traditional news media were more popular than
the new news media; young Finns experienced a need for media
participation more often with newspapers and television than their virtual
counterparts. The majority of contact was directed towards newspapers
(50%), followed by television (27%). Every fifth (23%) contact was made to
online newspapers. The youngsters who were interviewed emphasized the
benefits of new communication technology in terms of easiness and rapidity,
even if they did not use it regularly. The following extracts from interviews
with two young Finnish girls illustrate this:

The net is actually very easy to use and it’s quick. So yeah, it definitely is
[preferred to writing a letter]. (Kaija)
I guess the threshold [to write] would be lower if you were connected, on the
net you can start writing just like that. But since I don’t have access at home,
if you start writing something here [at the library], there’s really no time or
possibility. (Kirsi)

These comments bring up an important aspect of interactive usage,
namely, that an increase in technological solutions does not result directly in
an increase in actual contact – as the critical version of ‘user in transition’
discourse has suggested. Although new ways to make contact are ‘easier’ and
‘better than using pen and paper’, the young people interviewed hardly ever
used the new communication technology in communicating with the
newsroom. This points towards other kinds of constraints and limitations for
making contact. In our case, the idea of contacting newsrooms was simply
alien and unnecessary for many young Finns, regardless of many attempts by
news-makers to invite people to get in touch, and all the new technologies
available. The following examples illustrate this:

Kaija: Well, I guess some people who want [to contact others], they
want to speak their minds or complain about something, then I
guess they write on the net that this and that wasn’t right.
Interviewer: Hmmm, have you ever done that yourself?
Kaija: No. [laughs]
Interviewer: Have you ever considered contacting a journalist?

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Pekka: No, I haven’t contacted them.
Interviewer: Can you see yourself doing that, if for instance you read or heard
something interesting or annoying on TV, do you think you could
then email or phone the reporter?
Pekka: hmmm, no I don’t think I’d do that. Maybe I’d talk about it with
my mates but I don’t think I’d ever contact anyone.

Kaija and Pekka’s dialogue illustrates that while they are aware of
technological opportunities to contact news-makers, it is ‘someone else’,
‘others’, who make such contacts, not themselves. This does not mean,
however, that journalism does not facilitate discussion. Discussion only takes
place in one’s immediate environment, among friends and family, not with
journalists. So far, the existence of new communication technologies does
not appear to have changed this.

Participation activities
New communication technology has invested heavily in new, easier and
more equal possibilities to participate in the media. By participation in the
making of the news media (texts) we mean taking up any of the activities
that are available for news users, such as participating in competitions, polls,
questionnaires, writing a letter to the editor, participating in an online
discussion group, giving one’s own opinion to a current affairs programme
questionnaire, giving feedback to journalists, sending them hints or
questions for new stories or even writing one’s own news texts. These
activities may be grouped as quizzing, voicing one’s own opinion and
commenting on journalism. We discuss each activity group in turn.

Quizzing
Out of the inquired possibilities to participate in journalism, young Finns
were most intrigued by the possibility of taking part in competitions, polls
and questionnaires. Out of all the participatory activities, 37 percent (N =
345) comprised this kind of participation. Of the respondents, 18 percent
had taken part in competitions or polls. Further, competing and answering
polls and questionnaires was the most popular way to participate in each
news media: as for print media, online newspaper and television news, one-
half of the activities was comprised of taking part in competitions. This kind
of participation in the news media can be called entertainment, such as
quizzes which offer an easy-going, harmless way to spend time. A young
Finnish girl’s comments indicate the lightness of this kind of participation:
Anniina: I always checked on the quizzes there [in the tabloids] [laughs].
First I read the horoscope and all sorts of gossip and celebrity
news and stories, but I don’t think I read the opinions.
Interviewer: Do you remember what kind of quizzes?

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Anniina: No, I can’t remember, I dunno.

Age seemed to enhance the attraction towards polls and questionnaires:
the majority of those who had answered them were 17–19-years-old. Girls
were more active than boys, and the most eager participants proved to be
older girls.

Voicing one’s own opinion
Another way to participate in making the news media (texts) involves
expressing one’s own opinions. In practice, this was realised by writing a
letter to the editor or the youth section, or participating in an online
discussion group. Among young Finns, giving one’s own opinion was the
second most frequent way to participate in the news media: it formed 30
percent of all participatory activity (N = 345). Out of all the respondents,
14 percent had participated in this manner. Thus only a rather small
minority of young people were interested in voicing their own opinion
regarding current events and topics. The most popular form of contact was
through writing. Of the young people, 11 percent had written a letter to
the editor or contributed to a youth section. However, the motivation for
this type of activity is, at least partly, explained by the life situation of the
respondent: it may have been a school assignment, as the following extract
illustrates:
Sometimes at school one has had to write letters to an editor and then the
teacher sends them to the Keskisuomalainen [the local newspaper], and some are
published. But it’s nothing more than that. It’s just practice, in case we need to
write something like that sometimes. (Eriikka)

It also seems that even when a young person had motivation to write
their own stories or opinions, it was not always important to get them
published.
Yeah, I have written texts to send to a newspaper but I’ve never sent them.
[laughter] (Kirsi)

Digital fora for expressing opinions were alien to the vast majority of
youngsters: only 3 percent had written to discussion fora in the online news
media. The comments of a young Finnish boy who had participated in a
current affairs programme by SMS illustrates well how (once the motivation
for participating exists) the new technology facilitates participation, hence
fulﬁlling the promises described in the ‘multivoicing journalism’ discourse:
Interviewer: . . . that these new technologies would somehow lower the
threshold to participate in the programmes. What do you think?
Matti: Well they have. Really, at least I think so. Actually it’s quite good
to be able to take part every now and then.

395


Interviewer: Yes. Have you ever contacted them?
Matti: Not that much, a couple of times I’ve sent to Channel Four, to
that whatsit, twenty or something like that. Just that, not that
often.
Interviewer: You mean that vote
Matti: mmm
Interviewer: By a text message?
Matti: Yes.
Interviewer: Do you think that they have inﬂuenced, or why have you sent
those?
Matti: Yes, I think they have. I want to have my say.
Interviewer: Right, and you think it’s a good way, do you think you could do
that also in the future?
Matti: I guess so, if there are interesting topics.
Interviewer: And do you think that the new technologies are the reason for
participating, that you wouldn’t write a letter or postcard?
Matti: No, I don’t think I’d write, it’s easier this way. Since it’s so quick,
then why not do it.
Interviewer: Do you think it’s young people sending these messages?
Matti: Depends on the topic. If the topic interests the young, then I
guess they also send messages.

Commenting on journalism
Other ways to participate in journalism include giving feedback to
journalists, or sending them hints or questions for new stories. This kind of
participation may be interpreted as a desire to have an impact on
journalism. Of all the participatory activity, 22 percent comprised this kind
of action. However, among the young Finns examined, commenting was
rare; 11 percent of them had participated in journalism in this way. The
distribution of activity among various ways of commenting on journalism
was rather even; 5 percent had given feedback, 3 percent had sent hints for
journalists, and 2 percent had sent questions. In addition, the ﬁndings
suggest that similarly to giving an opinion, the young participated this way
more often with printed newspapers than online versions or television news.
One explanation for the unfamiliarity of this kind of participation can be
found in young people’s understanding of news and its role. The
interviewees’ comments suggest that they saw news as ‘untouchable’ – a
particular area of journalistic expertise that is not meant (nor needs) to be
interactive. In their eyes, critical contribution to journalism could be ‘John
Doe fussing about’, which would only result in twisting facts or interfering
with the work of journalists:

396

¨

I think there are enough possibilities to comment and give feedback, if the
journalists have already decided what to write and know their topic, and then
some John Doe, who hasn’t a clue, interfere . . . I think that things might get
twisted. (Anniina)
Let those who know the job, also do it. They are quite good at it, there’s no
need to try to mess with it. (Pekka)
I don’t want to stick my nose into other people’s business. (Eriikka)
I haven’t much commented on news to their writers. If I have, then it’s been
about the pages, how readable they are and how they work with different
browsers. (Marianne)

Tied in with the view of news as a special area of journalistic expertise,
the young Finns also doubted the relevance of their viewpoints and
comments:

I don’t know if I’d ever come up with the idea that I’d suggest to someone,
why don’t you write a story about this. It wouldn’t occur to me that
something would make a good piece of news. (Eriikka)

However, participation in making journalism in the future was an option
– once one’s competence and capacity had been increased. For the time
being, many young people felt marginal, and ill-prepared to participate in
journalism:

Maybe when I’m older, I think that they don’t really listen to youngsters at
this age. I think you need to be older and have more authority, so anyone
would listen to you. (Anne)

Once motivation and a sense of the relevance of one’s own opinions and
knowledge (adulthood) are achieved, new communication technology
appears to play a role in more interactive news-using practices. This can be
read, for example, in the following comments explicating how, in the long
run, new communication technology can strengthen the practice of
commenting on the work of journalists.

In an online paper it [feedback] could work better but maybe when you think
of an ordinary newspaper, very few people think that someone gets so agitated
that they’d write to the journalist. I don’t think it happens too often. (Pete)

It’s easier to send it [feedback] on the net via email, you just click and there it
goes, and it’s quicker. (Kaisa)

DISCUSSION
Our ﬁndings on the interactive usage of journalism among young Finns
form a heterogeneous and somewhat conﬂicting picture. Although young

397


Finns have relatively easy access to new communication technology, are
familiar with using it and are keen on knowing recent world events, these
three activities do not intermingle to any greater extent. In other words,
while the youngsters use new communication technologies particularly for
social contact, journalism is accessed predominantly via traditional means,
i.e. television and newspapers. With increased opportunity to follow news
individually according to one’s own time and taste – as marketed in ‘pick
and choose’ discourse – the young Finns preferred the national news media.
This result indicates that, regardless of an increasing news supply, the
attraction of news still lies at least partly in its power to offer moments of
communal attachment and a sense of shared experience.
While nearly all the young Finns followed the news media regularly at
the turn of the millennium, almost one-fifth had participated in the news
media. This number can be interpreted in different ways. On the one hand,
given the novelty of many of the means of participation and the genre of
news, the number of participants can be regarded as quite considerable. This
reading of the result lends support to the positional changes of news readers
and viewers: the prediction of a gradual transition of ‘mere’ news recipients
to active participation brought up in ‘user in transition’ discourse seems to
materialize partially. On the other hand, if audience activation is borne in
mind, every fifth participant is a relatively small part of youth in general.
Our findings indicate more heterogeneous transitions in youth participation
than is often assumed in ‘user in transition’ discourse; while the young Finns
used ‘old’ and ‘new’ means to participate to the same extent, the ‘traditional’
news media were clearly preferred by the youngsters as a target of
participation. Consequently, participation does not only occur through new
technology and in a virtual environment, but the ‘old’ and new possibilities
and arenas overlap and coexist.
The findings show that participation by the young Finns is a mixture of
heterogeneous activities, including quizzing, voicing opinions and
commenting on journalism. For them, interactive use of journalism took
place most often in the world of virtual quizzes, polls and questionnaires.
This rather easy-going type of participation can be interpreted as proof that
journalism is becoming more entertaining and lighter when it comes to
audience participation. The same applies to the characteristic usage of
journalism on the internet. On the one hand, interactive usage seems to be
individualized entertainment rather than a platform for active citizenship.
On the other hand, for few young Finns the motivation for interactive
usage lies precisely in voicing one’s own opinion and making a difference.
These instances indicate that at times the potential of the new media to
enhance public discussion and participation of citizens is materialized – as
suggested in the multivoicing journalism discourse.

398

¨

The fact that some young Finns participated in the news media gives
neither an indication of the significance of such activity for them, nor does
the type of activity automatically reveal the motivation for such
participation; while taking part in chat is entertaining babble for one, the
same activity may be influencing and participating in public discussion for
another. As with various discourses which overlap and together form a
complex – and, to an extent, contradictory – representation of the new
media in journalism, the everyday practices of using journalism via the new
media point towards the heterogeneous activity and conflicting meanings
given to them.
We were impressed by how effortlessly the young Finns adapt and move
along within and between the multiple and relatively rapidly changing
(subject) positions available in the new(s) media world. It seems to us,
therefore, that it is unfruitful to discuss interactive usage of the news media
among young Finns through polarized positions of either interactive or not
interactive, but rather to perceive the changing news world as an emerging
and transforming continuum of possibilities which are taken up by some and
bypassed by others, and which have different kinds of meanings for different
people at different moments. Even if the potential of the new media may
not be realised, or is realised differently in people’s everyday media use, in
the light of our findings we consider the existence of new communication
technology to be a chance for journalism to maintain and develop its role as
a significant public discussion arena and as a resource for citizenship.

Note
The article is part of a larger research project: ‘Emerging Finnish media culture:
encounters between makers, texts and young people at the millennium’. The multi-
disciplinary project is a three-year research project on changing Finnish media culture,
examining the media usage of young Finns. The project is funded by the Academy of
Finland.

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JAANA HUJANEN is a researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of
Jyvaskyla, Finland. Her areas of interest include intertwined questions on journalism,
¨ ¨
citizenship and local identities, as well as young people’s practices of reading new(s) media
texts. She has published several articles about these themes. Currently she is involved in a
research project studying dialogue and citizens’ participant identity in journalism.
Address: Department of Communication, University of Jyvaskyla , PO Box 35, FIN-40351
¨ ¨
Jyvaskyla, Finland. [email: jhujanen@cc.jyu.ﬁ
¨ ¨

¨
SARI PIETIKAINEN is a researcher in the Department of Communication at the University of
Jyvaskyla, Finland. Her research interests lie in critical discourse analysis, practices of making
¨ ¨
and using journalism and questions of identity. Her recent articles are about ethnic
representations in the media and practices of making and using television news. She is also a
co-editor (with Sirkka Laihiala-Kankainen and Hannele Dufva) of a recently published book,
Multivoiced Finland. Currently she is researching Finnish ethnic media, with an emphasis on
the possibilities of using the internet for building digital bridges between diasporic minorities,
and participant identity in journalism – a theme developed in this article. The research is
funded by the Academy of Finland.
Address: Department of Communication, University of Jyvaskyla, PO Box 35, FIN-40351
¨ ¨
Jyvakyla. [email: sapapi@cc.jyu.ﬁ]
¨ ¨

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