Yle CEO says broadcaster has shrunk by 15 percent

Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio has shrunk by 15 percent rather than expanded, its CEO Marit af Björkesten told Yle on Saturday as the company celebrated its 100th anniversary.

Yleisradio’s savings programme will continue through 2030, but Björkesten said the mood inside the company was now calmer and that the most difficult decisions had been made.

“We dare to challenge and take bold actions, which is really important at this time,” she said on Yle’s Ykkösaamu programme.

Over the past 10 to 20 years, Yle has lost 600 person-years, while its premises and equipment have both been reduced by 25 percent, according to Björkesten.

She said Yle was continuing to improve its efficiency so that money could be redirected to new development and content. The broadcaster currently spends more than 100 million euros on Finland’s creative sector.

“We are still in savings mode, even though the most difficult decisions are behind us,” Björkesten said.

She also stressed the importance of continued investment in the media. According to Björkesten, Nobel Prize-winning economists have said that reliable media, not only public broadcasting, is a prerequisite for economic growth.

Yle wants to reach young people on TikTok

More than half of Finns aged 13 to 18 consider TikTok their most important media source, Björkesten said. She said Yle needed to be present on the platform, particularly to reach young people.

She described misinformation as a major threat. Artificial intelligence offers many opportunities, but also risks, including the spread of false information and inaccurate summaries.

Björkesten said journalists needed to explain more clearly how their work differs from that of influencers. She also called for greater openness and better dialogue with the public.

Yle has established a verification team and is producing more educational content to improve media literacy related to artificial intelligence. The broadcaster also wants to ensure that fake images and videos do not appear in its media.

Björkesten calls for fairness in media regulation

Björkesten said the media sector was heavily regulated, while global technology companies were not regulated in the same way. She said domestic media should remain available on all important devices in the future, although this could be expensive and domestic media companies might not have enough money for it.

As an example, she said Netflix could spend on a single series an amount equivalent to Yle’s entire budget, which she put at 450 million euros.

Björkesten said democracy had once developed in small public squares where people discussed issues and sometimes voted. Today, democracy takes place online, but there had been insufficient discussion about how it should function and what limits should apply.

“Media is more than just an expense, and this must be discussed in terms of values,” she said.

Yleisradio’s first radio broadcast took place 100 years ago on September 9. The anniversary celebrations were held on Saturday. Björkesten was interviewed on Ykkösaamu by Seija Vaaherkumpu.