Exploring Peace Journalism and Interactive Narratives in Finnish Online Newspapers

Abstract

The mainstream news media is frequently criticized for presenting news in a bipolar and superfi-cial manner, often choosing sensationalism over practicalities, and escalation over solution-oriented goals. The peace journalism model offers a different approach to news gathering, colla-tion and coverage by presenting alternative sources and outcomes. This paper examines the online journalism frames used by the Helsinki Times and Helsingin Sanomat in a news report on an immigrant taxi driver in Finland. It demonstrates that on one hand, the current model in The Helsinki Times is one closely aligned to peace journalism, and in Helsingin Sanomat, there are signs of trans-media reporting, supporting the hypothesis that in the digital age, the use of socially-responsible interactive news narratives may be able to engage more people in critical thinking, and be more effective in fostering improved inter-cultural relations. However, there is a need to create a format that allows both functions to be optimally utilized in order to enhance distribution and reception practices.