Compiled with the help of Esa Reunanen University of Tampere, Finland.

Finland has the highest level of trust in the news media in our survey and one of the highest levels of press readership in the EU. Newspapers are privately owned and reflect a range of views. The public broadcaster Yle is funded by an annual tax. It operates alongside privately owned radio and TV networks.

Top Brands

Changing Media

The news media is characterised by a strong regional press, a strong public broadcaster (YLE), one widely read national daily (Helsingin Sanomat), and two popular evening tabloids, both reaching over half of the adult population. TV audiences continue to fall, while online the smartphone has overtaken computers for accessing news for the first time.

Trust

While still comparatively very high, trust in news is slowly declining. This may be because of polarising tendencies in this traditionally consensual society or because the debate about so called ‘fake news’ has undermined trust overall. The national broadcasting company Yle remains the most trusted news source in Finland while the popular tabloids have highest levels of distrust.