Oulu city officials sent conflicting press releases after paying freelance journalist for coverage

An investigation by Finnish broadcaster Yle has uncovered unusual communication practices in Oulu’s city administration, where a freelance journalist’s article was mistakenly distributed as an official press release—raising concerns over blurred lines between journalism and municipal PR.

The confusion began last week when Oulu city officials issued two contradictory statements about a potential multibillion-euro semiconductor plant. On Thursday, the city announced strong prospects for landing the facility, only to downplay expectations the following day. Both releases were sent under the city’s name, including to Yle.

City communications director Harriet Urponen confirmed that Oulu had commissioned a freelance journalist to cover a city-hosted seminar on Europe’s semiconductor dependency, offering payment for the article. The journalist’s work—intended for industry publications and the Epressi press release service—was accidentally sent as an official city statement.

“This was a human error,” Urponen told Yle. “The article was not meant to be published under the city’s name.”

Salla Nazarenko, ethics expert at the Union of Journalists in Finland, called the arrangement problematic, as it risks confusing paid promotion with independent journalism. “The public must always be able to distinguish between marketing and editorial content,” she said.

Adding to the irregularity, the press release was distributed via Epressi under Oulu’s name, despite the city having no account with the service. Urponen acknowledged the oversight, stating, “We were unaware this could be done without our direct involvement.”

The incident follows previous controversies over Oulu’s communications, including criticism in February for using AI-generated images and a 2022 case where a communications director was dismissed over offensive remarks.

The city has pledged a full review of its practices.