The winners of Finland's Grand Prize for Journalism announced.
Yesterday evening, the winners of Finland's Grand Prize for Journalism were revealed. They were chosen from among a record number of nominations: 462. The finalists within the three prize categories were announced already on February 15. The jury chose the final winners from among the finalists yesterday. The prize for each winner is EUR 7,500. The public also had a chance to choose a favorite, with their votes made via Facebook.
The winners for 2012 and the jury's rationales were:
Article or feature of the Year: Hanna Nikkanen and Anu Silfverberg, HS-Kuukausiliite: "Uskomaton murhenäytelmä" (An unbelievable tragedy).
The story of Enkeli-Elisa, a bullied 15-year-old girl who committed suicide quickly spread on the web and in the mass media at the beginning of 2012. Nikkanen and Silfverberg took the story with a grain of salt and started investigating the details more closely. Their main article revealed that the story was a fake. The story was a strong reminder of how important it is to check the facts, and also taught both readers and journalists to be more critical of phenomena that appear in social media.
Finalists included Laura Mattila of Olivia, for Tämän pojan elämä (this boy's life); Pekka Juntti, Jussi Leinonen and Sammeli Harve of Lapin Kansa and Pohjolan sanomat, for Oman onnensa nojassa (left to their fate).
Journalism of the Year: Juha Kauppinen, Suomen luonto: articles on the Talvivaara mine's environmental impact.
Juha Kauppinen has been a leader in reporting on the Talvivaara mine's environmental impact. Kappinen challenged authorities, dug into investigations, interviewed locals and collected his own water samples for analysis long before Talvivaara's problems intensified in November. His newspaper scoops and blog have spread far from just Suomen luonto. Kauppinen jumped passionately into the topic but gave precise information and documented it all with facts.
Finalists include Tuomo Pietiläinen of Helsingin Sanomat/Tampereen yliopisto for his promotion of investigative journalism; and Kaius Niemi and team of Ilta-Sanomat for "Sana on vapaa" (talk is cheap) series of articles.
Journalist of the Year: Pekka Holopainen, Ilta-Sanomat
Pekka Holopainen bravely tackles the most difficult subjects in sports and gets to the bottom of things with his soaring and free style. He bows to no one. Doping, money as well as current heroes and villains within sports are his particular areas of expertisie. As a sports columnist, he's among Finland's best.
Finalists include Niklas Meltio, freelance and Timo Haapala, MTV3 News.
People's Choice: Pekka Juntti, Jussi Leinonen and Sammeli Harve, Lapin Kansa and Pohjolan Sanomat: "Oman onnensa nojassa" (left to their fate)
The article series highlighted the residents of Enotiki's biggest fear: the large municipality has no police. The situation has led to a number of near-miss situations, as the reporter Pekka Juntti wrote in his short tales sprinkled throughout the main article. The cleverly built piece presented 30 residents in a photo, who in one way or another represented the argument in the headline: "The Government Leaves Us Alone."
The jury for Finland's Grand Prize for Journalism 2012 included:
Jouko Jokinen, editor-in-chief, Aamulehti
Atte Jääskeläinen, editor-in-chief, YLE Nyheter
Vesa-Pekka Koljonen, newspaper advisor and editor-in-chief emeritus
Pekka Seppänen, columnist and journalist
Leeni Peltonen, editor-in-chief, Kotiliesi
Paula Salovaara, managing editor, Helsingin Sanomat
Marjaana Toiminen, CEO, Bonnier Publications Oy
Jari Tourunen, editor-in-chief, Savon Sanomat
Merja Ylä-Anttila, jury chair, editor-in-chief, MTV3 News and News Desk
Tuomo Mörä, jury secretary, media researcher, Helsinki University
Jury members do not take part in judging their own media. Finland's Grnad Prize for Journalism is sponsored by Bonnier.