Yle turns 100 as algorithms threaten shared reality

Yle turns 100 on Wednesday, and although the world has changed dramatically since it began broadcasting, many of its original responsibilities remain, Krista Taubert, Yle’s acting editor-in-chief, writes in an editorial published by Yle.

When Yle began operating exactly 100 years ago, Finland was still recovering from a particularly bloody civil war that had ended only eight years earlier. Social reconciliation was just beginning.

Up-to-date information travelled slowly and reached people unevenly, while demand for information was growing rapidly. Radio was a new technology that carried information to different parts of the sparsely populated country.

According to accounts from the time, Yle had an important role in shaping patriotic opinion and building bridges between cities and the countryside. In its early years, it was enough for radio to bring people the topics selected by the elite. It created shared moments across the country: the same voice, at the same time.

Only later did journalism begin to show the world from perspectives other than those chosen by the authorities and the political majority. As Finns became better educated and society more pluralistic, people learned to demand and expect more.

Paternalistic public education was replaced by journalism guided by independence, impartiality and reliability. The effort to portray reality as truthfully as possible became the core of journalism.

Today, radio, television and digital platforms provide Finns with a shared public sphere where they follow war and peace, elections and the exercise of power, sporting celebrations and national mourning. The methods used to gather and present information have also become more advanced and diverse in recent years.

Shared reality is under threat

Unlike in Yle’s early years, information is no longer a scarce resource. It pours into heated digital devices, increasingly tailored to each user’s individual profile.

Taubert compares the situation with Finland’s national bird, the whooper swan. It looks different depending on the direction from which it is viewed. One person sees its upright neck, another its black-and-yellow bill, a third its white tail feathers and a fourth its large white wings. The proud bird also looks different when swimming than when flying.

All these observations are correct, but no one can form a picture of the whole from an observation made from only one angle.

Social media platforms operated by international technology giants readily offer users the viewpoint that attracts their attention and reinforces their existing beliefs. The algorithms beneath the surface strengthen biases and steer people towards like-minded bubbles.

The current flood of information contains many dangers. On social media, people wade through a quagmire of disinformation in which genuine information is often completely detached from its original context. Artificial intelligence can also be used to produce deepfakes that appear deceptively authentic.

People do not view the world in the same way, either. They interpret it through the lens of their own experiences. Their stage of life, position in society, fears and hopes affect what they notice first and what meaning they assign to what they see.

If people view the swan from only one perspective, their ideas about it can become very different. Eventually, they may argue not only about what a whooper swan is like, but also about whether Finland’s national bird exists at all.

Reliable, high-quality journalism is a powerful antidote to the erosion of a shared basis of reality. It investigates information, checks facts, hears different sides, monitors the exercise of power and places events in their proper proportions. Only on the basis of a shared reality can people reasonably disagree about what they should think of what they see and what should be done about it.

Quality journalism must reach people

High-quality journalism requires investment, and it must reach its audience. Yle has recently made major investments in verifying information. It has established a verification team to check the truthfulness of claims and videos circulating online about current events.

Yle has also built a unique tool for combing through public documents so it can monitor Finnish decision-making more effectively.

The broadcaster has expanded its network of foreign correspondents to reflect the changing global situation. In Finland, Yle’s domestic network remains unmatched, Taubert writes.

Yle is also seeking to strengthen its reliability and independence in other ways. It is developing a content balance tool to ensure that it has an up-to-date and accurate understanding of the balance of its journalism.

Quality alone is not enough if it fails to reach people. Algorithms operated by global technology giants pull people in different directions, but demand remains high for Yle’s historic task of building bridges between different groups of Finns, not only through news but also through sport and events.

Events such as the Independence Day reception at the Presidential Palace and the Olympic Games still reach huge numbers of Finns through Yle’s various channels.