Laivasto, joka katosi - Helsingin Sanomien ja kahden muun suomalaisen sanomalahden uutisointia Neuvostoliiton laivastoharjoituksesta vuonna 1954

Abstract

The Soviet Union’s Northern Fleet executed its first wide-scale naval drills in the Norwegian and the North Seas in late August 1954. The arrival of the Russian Navy detachment to the NATO’s heartland was quite exceptional. Western media made note of this occurrence, although not on a large scale. Reporting on the sudden disappearance of the navy detachment in the North Sea before its expected arrival in the Baltic Sea raised questions among the media and the public. Several news articles concerning this incident, however, were not politically neutral. Propagandic content, such as threatening military scenarios, was quite apparent within these articles. According to the source material used for this study, these assumptions mainly originated from official British and American sources of information. The purpose behind this propaganda was most likely to sway public opinion in the Western states to support British and American defence policies narrative. The leading nationwide Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat widely relied on Western media sources in its reporting.

This article aims at analysing how and from where Helsingin Sanomat selected its news material, and why it adopted a certain publishing policy. In this study, I ask whether there was political power behind the newspaper company or editorial staff, which was attempting to steer the news reporting through its own political agenda or interests, and what the possible goals were. I also compare the politics of news production between the centre right Helsingin Sanomat, the nationwide right-wing newspaper Uusi Suomi and the regional far-left newspaper Kansan Tahto concerning the abovementioned incident.