Regional newspapers plan for STT’s closure as Keskisuomalainen hires

Finnish regional newspapers are reassessing their national and international coverage after the Finnish News Agency, STT, announced it would cease operations. Keskisuomalainen plans to expand its own newsroom and hire a large number of staff, Yle reports.

The impact will vary across the industry. Some newspapers had already stopped using STT, while others relied on its reporting for a significant share of their domestic and international news.

Matti Posio, editor-in-chief of the regional newspaper Keskipohjanmaa, said a typical print edition carried about three pages of STT domestic and international news and sports. He said the paper would need to reorganise its coverage to retain a local focus while also providing readers with a view of national and global events.

Posio called STT’s closure a sad day for Finnish media and warned that some areas could become “news deserts”. He also said the state should support the media. Keskipohjanmaa is part of Hilla Group, whose newspapers are published in areas including the Ostrobothnian regions and Kainuu.

Lapin Kansa, which has used services from STT and Lehtikuva, also expects some changes. Its editor-in-chief, Suvi Tanner, said the effect on readers was unlikely to be dramatic because the paper’s audience reads relatively little national and international news. She said STT had nevertheless been important for planning and background information. Lapin Kansa and Kaleva are both part of Kaleva Media, which is considering how to replace the services.

Keskisuomalainen’s parent company has more than a dozen regional and local newspapers, including Keskisuomalainen, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, Karjalainen and Savon Sanomat. The group has been one of STT’s largest customers and, according to its journalistic director, Pekka Mervola, the only media group to have continuously used the agency’s full service throughout the 2000s.

The group plans to expand its Uutissuomalainen newsroom to take over national and international news monitoring. Recruitment is expected to begin soon, and the expanded newsroom is due to start operating in early April. Mervola did not give a hiring figure but said the group would recruit “a large number” of people.

Aamulehti and Satakunnan Kansa, which are published in Tampere and Pori, stopped using STT and Lehtikuva at the start of the year, along with other Sanoma newspapers. Their editors said the agency’s closure would not affect their newsroom work or be noticeable to readers. Satakunnan Kansa editor-in-chief Tomi Lähdeniemi said the fact that no buyer had been found for STT indicated that customers had not considered basic news services valuable enough to pay for.