A Discourse of Legitimacy Critiquing the Culture Agenda in Finnish Public Broadcasting

GREGORY FERRELL LOWE

A zealous and time-honoured commitment to cul- setting has been similarly construed (Kemppainen, tural concerns is a cornerstone of public broadcast- 1998). ing in the comparatively small Nordic countries Here as elsewhere, the legitimacy of a public (Hujanen and Jauert, 1998). The preservation and service approach to and practice in broadcasting nourishment of Finnish culture has long been a cen- continues to be vigorously challenged. This is fun- tral plank and supporting beam in the legitimacy damentally a debate about legitimacy that is keyed platform that justifies Yleisradio’s [YLE] position to differences of opinion in social, political and cul- in and demands on their society (Enden, 1996). tural perspectives. “Some debaters think that public Compelling contemporary evidence is found in the service broadcasting remains a historical relict, 1993 Act on YLE which legislatively reaffirms the while others argue that in the new environment its company’s mandate to frame the services of public unique features will be more important than ever” broadcasting here in culture-centred terms. This Act (Hujanen and Jauert, 1998:124). The essence of complements and extends a cherished historic devo- such conflict hinges on the degree to which public tion to such concerns, and has been suggested as the service broadcasting remains socially relevant and clearest unbroken thread of continuity in YLE’s in- legitimate. To the extent that it does enjoy continu- stitutional history (Lowe and Alm, 1997). Culture ing or strengthening legitimacy, a decisive element services in Finland and elsewhere in northern Eu- is rooted in the strongly cultural agenda that tends to rope are tightly linked with the legitimating logic of frame the enterprise (Radio and Television Systems the Nordic welfare state wherein democratisation of in the EU Member States and Switzerland, 1998). broadcast programming is rooted in the ethic of pro- The situation in Finland is relevant to this more en- viding “universality” in access to signals and con- compassing “discourse of legitimacy.” tent (Hujanen, 1995). Yet for all its evident centrality, “culture” has That “public service” ethic, its presumed and in- largely flourished under an assumed identity. It is cumbent values, as well as its institutional complex- summoned as a god-term to explain and justify what ion and practical operation, have been challenged is and isn’t done, but in the institutional setting it is and critiqued (e.g., Raboy, 1996; Avery, 1993; Fos- rarely explicitly defined. The meanings and values ter, 1992). Today’s competitive context is strikingly of ”culture” can, however, be ascertained and critic- dissimilar when compared with monopoly arrange- ally analysed. There are, of course, a variety of ways ments twenty years ago. The differences are largely to describe this area of media studies, here it is a function of increasing competition with the pri- framed as a three-dimensional construct: produc- vate, commercial sector, and the more general influ- tion, texts and reception. In this article, the author ences of market-oriented rationale in political, so- focuses on the first of those dimensions by investi- cial and economic spheres of interest. The Nordic gating the ways culture is defined in professional discourse and for practical reasons. The analysis critically investigates “culture” as a defining ele- Department of Journalism and Mass Commun- ment in the legitimacy discourse that characterises ication, University of Tampere, P.O. Box 607, FIN- YLE in the 1990s. It is framed by a heuristic pro- 33101 Tampere, [email protected] posed by Lowe and Alm (1997) in which the envi-

13 ronmental context of broadcasting is considered un- ments, critiques and extends that work. Since 1992, der the rubric of four interdependent “markets”: po- the author has served as a consultant to YLE radio, litical, popular, professional and open. The four and in that capacity has undertaken a variety of re- markets are analysed in terms of “value transforma- search and teaching projects involving all of tion,” suggested as a dialectical dynamic character- Yleisradio’s radio channels at one time or another – ised by the interplay of change and continuity. Here, often repeatedly and in cumulative fashion. In those the focus is on analysis of discourse about culture, capacities, the author has worked with most of contextualised by the YLE professional market of YLE’s radio professionals, and enjoyed fruitful op- radio broadcasters as they discuss its importance in portunities to observe work cultures and practices in reference to political and popular markets. The find- concert with broadcaster discussion and discourse ings suggest that: about those undertakings. Interviews are focused on learning about under- 1) The ways culture is defined by broadcasters are standings and perspectives among radio profession- keyed in large part to a variety of self-serving ra- als in YLE’s three Finnish-language, post-1990 re- tionale, which also account for why the term is form channels (discussed shortly). The Swedish- so often hazy in definition. language section undertook its own reform in Octo- 2) That alternative semantic constructs have as ber, 1997 and is a topic of study at the present time much to do with internal institutional struggles (Radio Extrem and Radio Vega). over programming and channel policies as genu- In the formal research setting, respondents are ine differences in cultural emphases with regard queried to solicit descriptions and explanations of to political and popular markets. concepts rooted in normative values. The format re- lies on the use of a series of standardised open- 3) And that “culture” serves as a time-honoured and ended questions followed by probes to deepen un- still politically relevant theme in YLE’s dis- derstanding (see Patton, 1990). The interviews be- course of legitimacy, in terms of institutional gin with a brief description of the research project, policies and structure as well as in relation to as well as how the data will be used and why the Finnish society at large. study is important. Each respondent is promised confidentiality to relieve anxieties about, or poten- Methods tial threats posed by, institutional politics. The methods are briefly explained, culminating in a re- The reported findings are based on data collected quest for permission to tape-record the interview. over a seven year period beginning in 1991. Here as Respondents are aware that no one other than the elsewhere, the 1990s have been a decade of ferment interviewer will hear the tape, that the contents will and reform keyed to the increasing societal preval- be transcribed, and that he or she will receive a hard ence of market-oriented preferences and a correlated copy. This is necessary because English is not the expanding presence of private, commercial competi- native language of respondents. This procedure tors (Wiio, 1998). In this context, the discourse of helps to insure accuracy, fairness and clarity. The legitimacy enjoys a robust presence in political, pro- first item is designed to establish rapport. Each re- fessional and open markets. The situation offers spondent is asked two sequential questions about fruitful avenues for case-study research about the his or her position and work history: What is your constitution and complexion of a mediated and frac- correct title? What is your job and primary responsi- tured public sphere in contemporary societies. bilities here? The questions encourage respondents Given the literature already cited, such issues enjoy to talk about themselves and their work histories. a much broad and inclusive purview. These data are useful for providing context for the In the present article, analyses are based on inter- answers. view data. These data are derived from public radio The items are asked in order, with most having broadcasters and administrators working for YLE. two or three separate but related elements. Each be- The interviews invite respondents to describe and gins with a brief statement to provide context for the explain perceptions and applications of normative topic. In the present case, discussion begins with the values in their everyday work. Baseline data are de- following: “During my time here at YLE and in rived from a dissertation study conducted in 1991 talking with the people who work for the company, when 36 broadcasters and administrators charged I’ve found that there is a lot of talk about culture. It with managing channels and making programs were seems to be quite important to the company and the first interviewed. Annual, on-going research supple- people who work here.” The questions about the

14 topic are then asked in order: 1) What is culture? 2) the most part, these have been about channel and What does that mean for your work? 3) Why is this programme formatting and structure, transformation cultural agenda so important for the company? in professional work culture, and alternative, com- The interviews are conducted in English, which parative approaches to broadcast journalism. In the is a caveat in considering the results. This is the pri- course of such work, participants frequently voice mary reason that each interview is tape-recorded issues and ideas about culture and professional and transcribed. Fortunately, most Finns speak Eng- practice. These discussions inform understandings lish as their third language (the first two being Finn- and perceptions considered in the present article. ish and Swedish by law), and broadcasters at YLE The research perspective suggests dialectical are relatively fluent given the prevalence of English qualities in institutional life. Attention is devoted to in news, technical and professional practices. After change as a defining quality, but as much is devoted each research project the people who have been in- to continuity as a co-determinant tendency. Rela- terviewed are invited to attend a session in which tions between continuity and change are conceptual- the findings and results are presented, and where ised as dynamic, contradictory and reflexive aspects further discussion is invited which encourages par- under the rubric of ”value transformation process.” ticipants to critique them for accuracy and fairness. This is investigated via discourse and observation There are three key limitations in utilising this that query meanings and values of fundamental im- methodology. The first and potentially greatest is portance to the public broadcasting enterprise. the cross-cultural and linguistic limitation. The These include: audience, public service, journalism, steps taken to deal with this have already been dis- entertainment, information and, in the present case, cussed. The central problem that remains is that not culture. everyone is equally fluent. A Finnish-English dic- The author is an American academic with a dec- tionary is used to help clarify matters when there is ade of research about YLE public radio program- confusion. Not all interviews are equally rich and ming and operation investigating institutional dy- useful. The number of times this becomes a con- namics in light of the company’s practical and ideo- founding aspect that can’t be redressed is fortun- logical history in relation to its contemporary mar- ately low, about 1 in 10. The second limitation is ket-related experiences and societal context. This that people tend to rationalise what they do and work can be summarised as critical investigations of think in ways that are self-serving. This is not a the relations between media, culture and society, problem in the present case because questions are with a focus on the practical and philosophical intended to probe individual values and perspect- framework that legitimates public broadcasting. ives, and then analyses seek to find similarities and contrasts within and across the total data set that al- low critiques of rationalisation. The third limitation Yleisradio Oy is that a standardised approach limits flexibility in Yleisradio Oy (translated: General Radio Corp.) en- pursuing ideas and topics that arise in the process of joyed a monopoly in radio until 1985. As was the answering a particular question. The solution has case in most European countries, YLE was char- been to follow-up on such after the standardised tered as a public institution while private, commer- item has been answered but before moving on to the cial stations were forbidden. How radio has been next research item. Most interviews require an aver- done, why it has been done in the ways it has been age of 90 minutes, with the maximum being about done, and who was able to do it, have been deter- 120 minutes and the minimum about 60 minutes. mined by legal mandates, institutional legacies and This methodology has been fruitfully used over the centrality of public broadcasting to Finnish so- the years, most recently in funded research about the cial life. digitalisation of Radio Suomi (translated: Radio Like the BBC in Britain, over the seventy-two Finland) production and on-air technical systems years of its history YLE has become a relatively with regard to its reflexive relations with work cul- wealthy and certainly an influential social institu- ture. The notion of “reflexivity” and “agency” in the tion. It is beyond the bounds of this article to detail pursuit of continuity or change is premised on ideas the comprehensive idealisations and practices of the discussed at length by Giddens (1984). European “public service” approach to broadcast- Analyses are also the result of less standardised ing. Suffice it to say that this approach has been observations. Throughout the 1990s dozens of semi- conceived and defended as the antithesis of the nars and workshops have been conducted with YLE American private commercial approach, and that in radio broadcasters across its public channels. For large measure the public service enterprise has been

15 deeply committed to national, cultural themes – es- Ylen ykkönen is the most traditional channel pecially in the Nordic context. Similarly, as high- while Radiomafia intends to be innovative in the lighted by Hujanen and Jauert (1998) the increasing corporate context. “Intends to be” is appropriate be- use of “public service” as an institutional frame, cause, as will be demonstrated, the channel is con- rather than the previous “public broadcasting” char- strained by the structural legacies and characteristic acterisation, is an indication of social and political work cultures that marble the company overall. conflict related to the legitimacy of the approach in Ylen ykkönen features classical music and “serious light of the growth of commercial alternatives. talk” programmes about arts and sciences, distance- In 1985, the Finnish government made a deci- education services, religious programmes involving sion with long-term ramifications for Yleisradio the Church of Finland (Lutheran), plus documenta- when an “experiment” in private, local and commer- ries and radio theatre. Programmes are intended to cial radio was approved. This was subsequently ex- contribute to social enlightenment, most are pre-re- tended for another two-year period in 1987, and corded rather than live, High Culture arts are a pri- then ratified as a permanent addition to the Finnish ority, production practices tend to adhere to a media mix in 1989. The process and results of those monthly rhythm (although this is changing), and air- decisions and subsequent practices have been topics ing “demanding, high-quality” programmes is cel- of scholarly publication (Prehn, 1998; Lowe and ebrated. Ylen ykkönen maintains continuity with the Alm, 1997; Enden, 1996; Hujanen, 1996). These in- most traditional values of YLE’s public service in- dependent local radio channels initially targeted tentions in Finnish society and “keeps faith” with its young Finns with popular music, but in more recent social-responsibility legacies. The channel has done years have begun targeting Finns in their 30s and quite well since its inception, averaging 11-13% of 40s with a blend of adult contemporary music and the national market. news programming. Radiomafia is targeted to teenagers and young YLE had provided select programs of youth-ori- adults with popular music and features about topics ented content beginning in the 1960s, and initially and trends of interest to Finnish youth. In recent in reaction to pirate broadcasting. Thus, the com- years the channel has tended to be more about music pany had not completely neglected such program- flow and less about journalistic service. The situa- ming or its fans in Finnish society, but both were tion is in flux, however, due to abysmal ratings in quite marginal in the institutional context. The chief national survey research over the past two years. practical problem with this had become shockingly Most of their broadcasters are young freelancers in clear by 1989 as the company suffered sharp de- their 20s, programmes are live rather than pre-re- clines in ratings as the youth market tuned in the in- corded, Popular Culture arts are the priority, pro- dependents in increasing numbers (Kemppainen, duction practices adhere to a weekly rhythm, and 1998). In the interests of the institution’s survival being entertaining is a mandate. Unfortunately, as and future health, it was decided that YLE must em- hinted above, that mandate has not been accom- bark on a reform and restructuring of their radio plished in consistently sterling fashion, at least to channels. the extent that one can premise such a claim on di- Prior to the 1990 radio restructuring, YLE had minishing ratings. Although the channel enjoyed two national channels (called The Primary Pro- better than 20% of national weekly ratings in the gramme and the Parallel Programme) and nine re- early years of its operation, a steady decline since gional channels. Afterwards, the first national chan- 1994 crystallised in middle 1998 at an alarming 9% nel became Ylen ykkönen (translated: YLE’s First) rating. The channel is in crisis due to increasing and the second became Radiomafia (translated Ra- competition with the private sector, and particularly dio Mafia), an entirely new enterprise devoted to since 1997 when the Finnish government licensed a serving young Finns as a popular culture, public ra- first national and private commercial competitor dio channel. The third channel is a network organ- (Radio Nova). ised under the auspices of the national office of Ra- Radiomafia discursively eschews much of the dio Suomi with 20 regional stations (plus local news traditional ideas and practices of Finnish public ra- offices in area towns and villages). These mostly dio (and did so especially in their initial years of op- programme the morning and afternoon drive-time eration, 1990-1993). Personnel have defined their periods (although the volume of daily programmes channel primarily in opposition to those traditions. originating at the local level continues to increase Whereas Ylen ykkönen features continuity slowing for competitive reasons). giving way to change, Radiomafia has featured

16 change slowing ebbing back to continuity. Such ten- from broadcasters in other channels. Resentment dencies indicate the dialectical qualities of value and resistance is keyed to a (perceived) dispropor- transformation, and will be considered in more tionate amount of resources and related in-house depth shortly. Taken together, these channels pro- prestige historically and, to a lesser degree, cur- vide the best indications of a value transformation rently accorded the handful of broadcasters specifi- dialectic that has energised the public radio dynamic cally devoted to so-called High Culture program- in the 1990s. The company considers both channels ming. essential to the social legitimacy of the public Resistance and opposition to this conception is broadcasting enterprise in Finland, and both are most noted among Radiomafia personnel for simi- fundamentally situated as culture-oriented services. larly self-serving reasons, but is certainly not con- Radio Suomi has a national office in the capital fined to this channel. Broadcasters within Ylen of Helsinki that provides hourly newscasts about na- ykkönen who work for other units have also criti- tional and international events of the day. The na- cised the approach. In the main, opposition is tional office also produces specialised programmes framed as a reaction against the old YLE where cul- that are offered to the regional stations including, ture was too narrowly defined and classically con- for example, programmes produced by the Music strued. Those outside the Culture Programme unit Department. The lion’s share of daily programming, make statements to the effect that “what we do is and especially within peak listening periods, is pro- also about culture!” The bulk of respondents, then, duced by the regional stations. These focus on local react for and against institutional legacies as these and regional news. The channel also features the impact their respective self-interests. most Finnish popular music, much of it in the form But the practice of organising expert units to ad- of tangos and other forms of music that are fre- dress and service particular publics, conceived in quently castigated as Finnish “oompah” or “schla- specialist cultural terms, is common across chan- ger”, but which are popular among middle-aged nels. Radio Suomi has a Music Department that pro- Finnish listeners – especially during the summer duces specialised programmes under the rubric of holiday season. Taken together, Radio Suomi ac- “music journalism,” and Radiomafia has “program counts for a consistent 35-38% share of the weekly teams” with similar duties relative to popular cul- listening market, and is the most competitively suc- ture genre. Broadcasters working specifically with cessful of YLE’s post-reform efforts. music in every channel tend to define (and defend) themselves as specialist “music journalists” because the institution privileges journalists as the cream of Practical Dimensions of “Culture” YLE professionals, and has tended to devalue DJs Broadly construed, YLE radio professionals de- as “people who just play records.” scribe culture with regard to practical concerns, and In these regards, culture appears not only as fo- as three overlapping but somewhat distinct notions. rums of particularised artistic accomplishment, but These are treated as categorical descriptions below as institutionalised, politicised and contested prac- and are framed by the author to summarize respond- tices framing and informing work culture within the ent definitions and perceptions of the term. In most company at large. Segmenting and valuing the rela- ways, these represent practical dimensions of a dis- tive merits of cultural genre indicate patterns and course that situates culture in an institutional con- perceptions that define the institution in those or- text with reference to applied settings. ganisational terms that provide the ground and con- The first dimension is most often discussed with text for professional identity, activity and valuation. reference to the “old YLE,” meaning Yleisradio Thus, the preservation and nourishing of “culture” prior to the 1990 reform. Culture has been viewed acts as a warrant for validating company structures, as segmented areas of professional expertise con- resource allocation, channel and broadcaster iden- signed to specialist production units comprised of tity and promotion, work experiences, and collegial producers and, since the early-1970s, journalists. discourse. It is all about whom is ‘most’ legitimate, These lay claim to expertise in various venues of and culture plays a pivotal role in legitimating those fine art, including theatre, classical music, painting choices. and sculpture, ballet, opera, literature and so forth. Culture is secondly construed as a series of artis- This approach is most overt in Ylen ykkönen’s Cul- tic artefacts. This application is hinted in the first ture Programme unit. For self-serving reasons, this conception because culture as a series of artistic ar- channel’s practitioners favour and defend this attri- tefacts furnishes the subject matter that comprises bution in contrast to criticism (often quite harsh) the purview of expertise justifying culture as spe-

17 cialised production units. But whereas the later fo- their channels, both are fundamentally devoted to cuses on broadcaster identity and performance, the preserving and nourishing artefacts of cultural art. former focuses on the objects for which expertise is The chief difference is with regard to the age of the claimed. Specialised production units are about or- artefact and corresponding targeted audiences. Ylen ganisation and collective programming, whereas ar- ykkönen focuses on time-honoured genre and clas- tistic artefacts are about orientation and individual sical works of artistic merit (although, of course, subject matter. these include modern examples of such), whereas At Ylen ykkönen, subject matter decidedly privi- Radiomafia is devoted to contemporary expressions leges artefacts traditionally associated with High of youth culture production. In that regard these Culture and Fine Art. The Radio Theatre department channels are different in their approaches to culture produces dramas in the Finnish language, while a because the first is more about preservation while Classical Music department is responsible for pro- the second is more about nourishing. Despite that, gramming that aspect of the channel’s total profile. however, the channels are much the same in their The Radio Symphony Orchestra is independent of devotion to programming that celebrates culture as the channels per se, but certainly has a deeply sym- artistic artefacts. The subject matter is segmented, biotic relationship because Ylen ykkönen airs the but the underlying principle is not. Whether the ar- bulk of their performances. There are also pro- tefact is displayed in a museum or a carnival is a grammes devoted to poetry readings and critical matter of presumed aesthetic values, which of analyses of literature and literary figures, as well as course has decisive impact in ordering the relative units responsible for productions covering annual degrees of legitimacy accorded each genre of arte- opera festivals. Here one finds continuing dedica- fact in institutional terms. But the same company tion to the mission of “enlightenment” through edu- comprises the context and forum for both pursuits. cation (as classically conceived) in the project of The legitimating premise rests on the fact that the Western civilisation. artefacts are on display somewhere and in some This enlightenment mission is of fundamental fashion that has social relevance. importance to understanding the continuing devo- The third concept is historically newest and ac- tion to High Culture and the Fine Arts in YLE. cordingly more narrowly restricted than the other From the beginning of company history, it was be- two, although that is changing. In 1991, culture as lieved that radio broadcasting could and should be the medium and expressions of living social experi- applied as a service for distance-education with an ence was mostly evident at Radiomafia. Since that emphasis on inculcating appreciation for the classi- time, it has become increasingly evident elsewhere, cal arts. The social results and effectiveness of these and especially within Radio Suomi which most efforts are mixed and certainly beyond the para- tightly organises schedules and practices to the meters of this article, but the idea and its pursuit en- rhythms and concerns of daily happenings. But this joy a long and deeply rooted legacy within the com- notion also plays a role in the recent retooling of pany’s idealisations of its public service goals. Ylen ykkönen in pursuit of a faster, more responsive Most broadcasters today are eager to disavow work rhythm in tune with events of the week, at that mission as something that has been elitist, old- least, if not also the day. As the medium and expres- fashioned and programmatically ponderous. Yet the sions of living social experience, culture is framed basic premise of seeking to educate listeners to as a dynamic, diverse and universally important in- varying degrees, and with the goal of aiding in their dex to on-going social practice. Culture may have enlightenment, is common and continuing – even if museum-like and carnivalesque features and traits, paraded under different semantic banners. Actually, but only in relation to the continually contemporary most of them are not so new because wanting “to contingencies of social experience. Here the current change how people think, to make a difference in life experience of a subject, object or event fur- people’s views of the world, and opening doors to nishes the template of legitimacy, as compared with something new” are slogans featured in the 1972 an institutional arrangement (in the first broad con- Organisational Guidebook that framed the In- cept of culture treated above) or a topical index of formative Programme Policy (see Nordenstreng, its presumed worth (in the second). 1972 & 1973). It’s important to note that in each construct, cul- Radiomafia is an exercise in definition-by-com- ture is construed as a vital and tightly correlated el- parison relative to Ylen ykkönen. Yet despite the ement in the project of “universality” that informs High Culture versus Popular Culture dynamic most the heartland of the public service ethic. Specialised often summoned by respondents to differentiate production units survey and analyse the universe of

18 artistic artefacts in various genre of cultural produc- worth the effort because of what one earns from the tion, and create programs that provide universal ac- labour – one becomes civilised and sophisticated. cess to them. Moreover, doing so is defined as a cru- Such a view harmonizes with (and is rooted in) the cial service in public broadcasting’s on-going con- educational paradigm and enlightenment mission tributions to providing cultural resources as a defin- that so characterised public radio identity and pro- ing element of the medium and expression of living gramming until the reform. Here we have the con- social experience for all Finns everywhere. servative and tradition-bound view, replete with The preceding are summarised as three dimen- elite aesthetic judgements concerning normative sions of culture as the term is institutionalised by values defining “good and bad” taste – as well as YLE radio professionals: 1) culture as expert pro- listening. Interestingly, the on-air result enjoys a re- duction units; 2) culture as a series of tangible, arti- spectable and stable audience. There is apparently stic artefacts; and 3) culture as the medium and ex- little that is dysfunctional about any of this for the pressions of living social experience. Whereas the audience that chooses Ylen ykkönen. On the con- first approach defines and defends professional trary, the premise enjoys astonishing legitimacy if identity and the second programmatic identity, the listening figures can be fairly taken as one evidence. third focuses on the chronicle of living, social expe- The view at Radiomafia provides a sharp con- rience and the expressions of cultural identity. Of trast. Here culture is described in terms that are de- most relevance here is the idea that public radio pro- liberately reactive and alternative to the preceding fessionals serve their audiences by acting as view. Culture is described as things that are “fun, facilitators of an inclusive cultural discourse that is gossipy, weird, trashy, underground, and grassroots” nonetheless organized institutionally in relatively in nature. These broadcasters are less interested in exclusive terms. One could say of the three broad the “bright full moon than in the dark side of the concepts that the first is about specialisation, the moon,” as one put it. One notes a defensive quality second about education, and the third about media- that is keyed to the historical, corporate commit- tion. In that light, all of this is about how culture ment to High Culture and a correlated reserve about helps to organize and validate work, and ways in Popular Culture. Here culture is not supposed to be which variations are summoned to explain and le- something you have to work at, but instead is some- gitimate hierarchies in normative values. But what thing you play with. It’s not about enlightenment – is “culture” in semantic terms? it’s about entitlement. Legitimacy for the channel is premised on the idea that people have a right to en- joy culture in personal terms, rather than an obliga- Cultural Semantics tion to appreciate it in social terms. At Ylen ykkönen culture is described in terms that In fact however, and despite the “darker” aspects have a “heavy” and “serious” flavour. Culture is in the preceding descriptions, the bulk of this chan- equated with “quality, preservation, enlightenment, nel’s programmes are mainstream recordings of and high brow art.” It is lauded as a “civilising various music genre already popular among Western force” and defended as “the best fruits of what has youth. Radiomafia has only been alternative in rela- been thought and done.” Culture makes demands on tion to the institutional context. It is clearly less al- listeners because one has to work to appreciate it. ternative in relation to the listening market, given The goal of cultural programming is to “create bet- declining audience figures. There is little that could ter people” and to enable discovery and appreciation be fairly construed as dark, closeted or otherwise of artefacts that have stood the test of time. Culture unacknowledged as outside the mainstream of top- can accomplish this because it presumably has in- ics and interests of young Finns. Nonetheless, reac- herent nobility, purity, virtue and dignity that en- tion to the channel and its profile by other company courage sober contemplation of human aspirations broadcasters has only softened from aloof critique to create things of enduring beauty and endearing and frequent ridicule to tolerant acceptance and aesthetic richness. even grudging respect in the mid-1990s. The rea- On the whole, this is a Romantic view of culture. sons for that change in part reflect a notable trend Although not true in any extreme sense, one could within the channel to back away from the aggress- nonetheless say that the construct is more homoge- ively antagonistic aspects that characterised the neous than heterogeneous, more mainstream than channel in its early years. Radiomafia defines cul- avant-garde, more artefactual than dynamic, more ture in ways as much keyed to corporate work cul- historical than contemporary, and more intellectual ture as to larger social trends, and is increasingly in- than emotional. Good culture is hard work, but stitutionalised in practice. One wonders if this might

19 also play some role in declining listener figures. mafia’s expense. More encompassing explanations Also the reasons are partly linked with losing the focus attention on broader institutional problems in competition with private channels since 1997. management and organisation practices, problems As respondents frame the channels, then, Ylen that are rather common across European public ykkönen is commonly characterised as the High broadcasting companies (Foster, 1992). Culture channel and Radiomafia as the Popular Cul- At any rate, Radio Suomi’s success, and the de- ture channel. This is less than precise. In the au- gree to which that is based on their music and ser- thor’s observation, Ylen ykkönen could more accur- vice profile (large in observation), indicates the de- ately be defined as a channel devoted to European gree to which domestic culture is far from fragile High Culture and Radiomafia as a channel devoted and at risk in an increasingly competitive and inter- to International Youth Culture. This is of central im- national media marketplace. The claim that domes- portance for clarifying why Radio Suomi has been tic culture is supremely vulnerable in the face of in- so successful since 1990 despite constant changes in ternational media products and competition is fre- the market. quently voiced, but this analysis supports a more Radio Suomi is primarily a news channel. There complex and finely-grained argument elegantly and are, however, music profiles and these are very im- persuasively argued by Varan (1998) in his research portant to each channel’s overall flavour and “bou- about communities in the South Pacific. At least in quet” of services. Here the most relevant aspect of Finland and for the Finns, those radio channels that these profiles (which do vary, depending on the sta- offer the most domestic content and focus enjoy the tion’s location and the community it serves) is an highest ratings and strongest market presence. Far emphasis on traditional and contemporary Finnish from being a wilting wall flower of weak and tepid ”schlager” which American programmers character- longevity, Finnish culture appears in the present ise as middle-of-the-road, adult-contemporary or case as a robust, tenacious and deeply valued aspect easy listening formats. Because Radio Suomi (na- of social life and practice – and its pursuit is a decis- tionally and regionally) airs the most of such genre, ive element in legitimating YLE’s public broadcast- it’s not surprising that broadcasters here tend to de- ing enterprise. scribe their profile as ”folk culture.” Given the pre- ceding description, however, it would be more pre- cise to say that this network is devoted to Finnish Why the Culture Agenda? Popular Culture. This is a primary reason for the The final question to be addressed here is arguably channels’ market successes (two other defining rea- the most fundamental: Why is “culture” and the sons are its localised services and journalistic fo- “cultural agenda” of such central and enduring im- cus). Radio Suomi airs the music profile most portance to YLE public broadcasting? Answering strongly correlated with popular and indigenous that requires some understanding of Finnish history tastes of Finns in the middle-age demographics. and wider social influences that can only be treated An operational reason for the network’s com- briefly in this article. But we can proceed with the bined success also hinges on the fact that it has been understanding that this is crucial to the framework most deeply involved with local competition in ra- in which all of the preceding finds relevance and ar- dio. Yes, Radiomafia was chartered and mandated gues legitimacy. Note, as well, that the following is with taking back young listeners who had switched not based on interview data, but rather on readings, to local independents, but it transmits the same pro- personal immigrant experience and on-going re- gramme everywhere in the nation and has not been search about Finnish history, society and culture. able to deal with specific local challenges very well. Finland has been both the beneficiary and victim This has been a source of frustration for many of clashes between Western and Eastern European within Radiomafia, and may also help account for cultures, broadly construed. For most of its recorded why the lion’s share of their listeners have been history, Finland was a province of Sweden (c.1100 among young people living in the countryside C.E.). In the early-1800s as the result of a war that where private local music stations aren’t available. Sweden lost, Finland became a Russian Grand This is not, however, a sufficient explanation for Duchy under Alexander II. These influences are Radiomafia’s competitive woes because the private evident, for example, in the two buildings that commercial national channel, Radio Nova, isn’t lo- dominate Helsinki’s skyline – the Lutheran and cal either, and yet has managed to conquer 22%+ of Greek Orthodox cathedrals. Also the fact that Hel- the total listening market since its introduction in sinki is the capital today is a legacy of Russian rule. the late spring of 1997 – much of that at Radio- During the Swedish colonial days Turku (in Swed-

20 ish, Åbo, and on the southwest coast) was the capi- type and complexion of political government for the tal. Moreover, the most significant minority in terms new nation (which was also an intercultural con- of social and economic influence are the Swedish- flict), turmoil between the Finnish-Finns and Swed- Finns (about 6% of the total population of 5 million ish-Finns erupted. Yleisradio was chartered in this total), while one of the biggest holidays of the year conflicted period (1927) and became a public com- is May Day (celebrated as a worker’s holiday as in pany (1934) shortly after it ended. From the begin- the East generally). Like Poland and Hungary, Fin- ning, then, radio broadcasting was conceived as a land is at the crossroad between East and West and centrist voice for national unification and solidarity, here the twain have assuredly met. That position and and with a keen sensitivity to the importance of cul- the difficulties it has created for a people that are ture. The particulars of “cultural threats” have cer- not genetically linked (except through cross-cultural tainly changed over the years, being today mostly marriages) nor linguistically related to either trans-European and with a robust American pres- Swedes or Russians, have inculcated a deep sensi- ence, but the principle of preserving and nourishing tivity to cultural concerns among Finns. a distinctively Finnish culture in the face of such in- Moreover, before Finnish independence was de- fluences is a constant. This continuity in Finnish so- clared on December 6, 1917, at least thirty years of cial and historic national life is reflected in the prin- artistic accomplishment committed to creating a ciples and practices of Yleisradio, particularly for myth and context for Finnish national identity had example in their mandated devotion to serve Swed- already passed. This was a period of nationalist, cul- ish-Finns on a par with the majority population tural ferment, and is frequently referred to as the (Moring and Salmi, 1998). Golden Age of Finnish Art. It includes, most nota- Given all that has gone before, it might seem sur- bly, the great composer Jean Sibelius and the gifted prising at first blush to find that “culture” has lived painter, Akseli Gallen-Kallela. These and other art- under an assumed identity without much apparent ists drew inspiration from Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala effort to define this term and aspect of such central tales. This national epic was compiled in the mid- importance. But leaving culture as a hazily defined 1800s based on folk tales that were common in the and generally abstract notion has been strategically Karelian area near Lake Lagoda (today located in beneficial. On the one hand, doing so has provided Russia after the territory was ceded to the USSR as for great flexibility and the freedom to make pro- a penalty of WWII). The rallying cry of Finnish in- grammes that appeal to small listener groups. On the dependence was: “We can’t be Swedes, we won’t be other, it has also limited accountability because it is Russians, let us be Finns!” Thus, culture is a crucial impossible to hold anyone to a bargain that has yet aspect inscribing international influences and do- to be defined. Since the 1993 Act on YLE, however, mestic distinctiveness. that haze is less functional (Wiio, 1998). Nearly all of Finland’s legendary figures in the As a result of the Act, Managing Director Arne creation and celebration of Finnishness, from the Wessberg (approved for a second six year term in 1850s through the early decades of this century, had the spring of 1998) decentralised YLE operations. at least three telling traits in common. First, they Allocation and programming decisions today are were artists; second, they were cultural nationalists; made at the unit and channel levels rather than at the and third, they had interest in and involvement with corporate level. In return, YLE broadcasters are re- Finnish journalism. That construct offers insights quired to develop and apply precise performance in- that help explain the character and values of YLE. dicators and evaluation criteria. The trade-off, of The expansive strength of YLE’s journalistic em- course, is that more explicit criteria greatly increase phasis is relatively recent, however, being rooted in accountability. An advantage to fog is that it moves the Informative Programme Policy of the 1960s and with the wind, whereas tables of stone require peo- 1970s, and first validated by General Director Eino ple to carry them. If culture is the medium and ex- Repo. It has certainly become a defining element of pressions of living social experience, at least in part, institutional legitimacy and activity in the decades then the power of ambiguity is sacrificed for the since. Journalists are the most respected of all YLE power of control inherent in accountability. Interest- professionals, and many see themselves and their ingly, however, the power of control may actually be craft as having artistic qualities. When combined higher in a decentralised but accountable system with a commitment to national, cultural themes, this than in the previously over-centralised institution. comprises an enduring legacy. Two final aspects or dimensions of “culture” as a Ten years after independence, and following a defining characteristic of Finnish public broadcast- civil war between the Whites and the Reds over the ing remain to be addressed. The first is keyed to

21 YLE’s legal mandates and corresponding legitimacy files of existing channels and programmes, particu- as a “public service” company in relation to the so- larly those that have a relatively small audience but cial context in which it operates. The second is more can be defended as making some vital contribution internal to the company and hinges on the need for to Finnish cultural life. Further, this mission is work culture cohesion in an increasingly diverse viewed as a means of enhancing the total service and even fragmented organisation. image of the company, and thereby helps YLE to Yleisradio is legally mandated to serve the maintain the “good graces” of Finnish society – i.e., unique and various cultural needs of Finnish soci- to continually legitimate the company’s position in ety. The cultural mission of YLE broadcasting is the this social context. clearest and most enduring continuity in the compa- As to the second aspect noted above, culture is ny’s seventy-three year history to date. From its in- conceived as a defining element and principle to fa- ception in the mid-1920s, and unswervingly in cilitate a “way of thinking” for the increasingly di- every legal act and agreement impinging on the vergent units and programmes within the decentral- company since that time, YLE is charged with serv- ised, restructured company. Culture is not only a de- ing the cultural interests of all Finns. The principle fence for programmes and services in societal terms, is continued and even strengthened in the 1993 Act but also a means of welding some cohesion across on YLE which demands that the company work to the company’s fractured work cultures. In this case, foster and nourish Finnish culture as a core value in culture serves as a tool for conceptualising and its identity, and as a key warrant for its legitimacy. evaluating the company’s production processes and The pursuit is affirmed as a continuing requirement practices, as well as a rallying point that conceiv- to provide services on a universal basis. That, in ably integrates everything from radio theatre and short, legitimates its demands on public resources. classical music to pop music radio and local news The company is especially mandated with taking services. In all its abstract power, culture acts in care of the needs of those who are commercially un- practice as a kind of ideological touchstone and ce- attractive, but to also provide “comprehensive serv- ment that binds the social collective of broadcasters, ices” for all Finns everywhere. The comprehensive- furnishing each with a sense of organisational pur- ness of such services has been strongly construed as pose and professional identity. In doing so, culture cultural in nature. provides continuity in the face of sweeping changes. That mandate legitimates the company’s on-go- ing efforts to serve Swedish-Finns and the native Sami people of Lapland. Such services are ex- Conclusion tremely costly and cannot be economically rational- With all of this in mind, it is not surprising that cul- ised. Yet they are considered vital to the national ture should occupy a defining position and act as a life and health of Finnish democracy, on the basis of principle of singular, foundational importance for which they are supremely rational. Moreover, the Yleisradio Oy. Each of the company’s radio chan- same can be said of Radio Theatre and the Radio nels is legitimated as a concurrent if diverse aspect Symphony Orchestra with regard to the life and of YLE’s efforts to best serve the contemporary health of national culture. These are expensive needs and interests of all Finns with a comprehens- “products,” but are accorded legitimacy by virtue of ive service in an increasingly pan-European and in- the company’s continuing commitment to advancing ternationalised context. Ylen ykkönen caters to such and preserving the Finnish arts. Yleisradio is ex- in areas traditionally associated with European High pected to make vital and visible contributions in Culture, while Radiomafia struggles with a newly nurturing Finnish talent and supporting domestic institutionalised mission to more fully attend to the creativity. The cultural mandate and mission legit- interests of Finns in International Youth Culture. imates such pursuits. Further, an aspect of supreme importance in legit- Thus, “culture” provides a strategic agenda that imating Radio Suomi’s services and explaining its legitimates the company’s demands on tax-derived popularity hinges on that network’s devotion to funds (license fees, in the main, but also the “public Finnish Popular Culture. Taken together, these service tax” levied since 1994 on commercial channels and the services they provide are construed broadcast companies as part of the cost of doing as a vital strategic element to the political and popu- media business here). It is also competitively useful lar market legitimacy the company must maintain. because the agenda makes YLE public broadcasting Professional discourse about culture reveals a vari- distinctive in relation to the private commercial sec- ety of self-serving interests, but all of these are tor. Moreover, cultural interests legitimate the pro- framed in one form or another in ways that indicate

22 that “culture” is an animating force in the ethic that (forced by the successes of commercial competitors) legitimates “public service” operations in today’s that any perspective of Finnish culture as a kind of competitive media marketplace. It’s all about pro- seamless and monolithic entity is untenable in light viding “something for everybody” which is, as of contemporary preferences manifest in listener Hujanen and Jauert (1998:123) point out, “the core choices. Thus, channel profiling and audience seg- of universalism.” mentation practices are also legitimated as recogni- The profiling of YLE’s public radio channels has tion of cultural pluralism despite strongly shared been based on a relatively recent acknowledgement generalities in Finnish national life and identity.

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