The art of silence and the manipulation of trust?Indictment of NATO debate in Finland

Finnish public service media We have the legal and professional authority to provide an information platform that reflects the diversity of opinions and does not reflect the political agenda. This does not happen on the English Yle platform.

In their report from the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the end of April, 60% of their articles advertised the perspective of parental NATO or parental cooperation. Conversely, less than 7% can be interpreted as anti-NATO or anti-military alliances.

Indeed, when the anti-NATO perspective was presented, for example in the articles on April 24th, 25th and 27th. Elkki Tuomioja, Anna Contura When Hassan Kafi Hallen All articles were conditioned by a lack of support and criticism of the person’s point of view. In a complaint by the Somali community, they added the condition that such a community was exposed to a high level of conspiracy theory. Such negative conditions were not proven in the parent NATO article.

Approximately 7% of articles report an increase in military spending, which does not include the procurement of military aircraft from the United States. Another interesting feature was the report of a poll conducted by Yle or a corporate-sponsored group aimed at showing general support for Nato membership. Both objectivity is questioned.

Yle also reported that one of his journalists was behind a second-citizen initiative to parliament seeking NATO accession. Did you understand that Yle’s mission is to be impartial to the press, not to defend the creation of its own news agenda?

A study by the University of Helsinki, “Endangered Emotions: Media Authority and Audience Confidence” (2019-2020), showed that the Finnish media had a significant impact on political decisions and opinions. Given that Finns trust the media more than any other country, according to the University of Oxford and the Reuters Institute, we need to question the fairness and expertise of the current press.

But why doesn’t this happen?Is it as a professor? Lehtonen When Sajaavara In their groundbreaking article – Silent Finn, this is a national feature. Why is there a lack of critical awareness of the impact of NATO accession? Perhaps the simple evidence provided by Il confirms the basic beliefs of Klein’s shock doctrine and the influence of hidden parties? What is happening in the relentless and swift pursuit of NATO accession certainly has all the characteristics of the tactics inspired by behind-the-scenes consultants. The sharp 2005 documentary “Our Brand is Crisis”, which considers the impact on the domestic politics of other countries, may provide some guidance. The clue is in the title.

Irving Janis He promoted the concept of “group thinking”, which makes a group of people obedient to the need to follow consensus leading to dysfunction decisions. Second, taking into account the Finnish cultural characteristics of silent communication increases the potential for false stability that can result in cataclysms. This is what is happening in Ukraine.

When I’m in the UK, I’m comforting that there are research journalism executives who ask decision makers for clarification. Indeed, citizens are proud to ask the questions they sometimes come across as if chaos was personalized. But perhaps democracy is chaotic, or at least it should be.

However, asking Finnish decision makers carries out a health warning. I remember being fired a few years ago at the up-and-coming TEKERI trade union because a foreign teacher dared to ask questions to the management of private and public education departments. It still happens and you raise the question that makes you a “troublemaker”. Sipilägate comes to mind.

If you’re a journalist who wants to think outside the box, we recommend asking: Why is Ukraine paying off its debt to Western banks even during the war? Given this paradigm shift in foreign policy, where is Finland’s opposition? Does such a level of compliance and obedience indicate democracy or the functioning of a democratic deficit? Why is the Western Edict backflowing when the Finns have successfully created a unique zeitgeist that has been internationally respected for over 70 years?

There is a template for what Yle is doing, which is the BBC. Once considered a paragon of journalism integrity and professionalism, it is now despised by the vast breadth of Britain’s population due to the lack of a London-centric agenda and balanced reporting. It’s only a matter of time before they lose their finances and journalists have to face the reality of the market. However, Yle is directly tax protected and feels impervious to unwanted changes. That’s what the BBC believed. Yle’s only salvation benefit is that the audience goes to the default consensus of groupthink rather than critical perception. But when groupthink becomes widespread, it destroys the infecting organizations and societies … sooner or later.

To Grahamwood

Grahamwood has been a lecturer at the University of Helsinki for over 30 years. He holds an Executive MBA from Aalto University and his PhD from the School of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki to study conflict and collective violence. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Higher Education in the United Kingdom.

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