Why are Muslims, especially women, usually pictured covering their faces? Do these types of images in the media reinforce our stereotypes about Muslim women? Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s leading daily, is one representative of the media that reinforces stereotypes about Muslim women. While the article is important because it talks about forced marriages, why can’t it
Read on »Posts Tagged: Stereotypes
WARNING RACIST CONTENT: Helsingin Sanomat survey exposes the DNA of Finland’s racism
Helsingin Sanomat’s survey published on Monday after another questionable story on “model immigrants” was widely criticized on social media as outright racist. Even so, I would like to thank Finland’s largest daily for exposing the DNA of Finland’s racism and the continued low caliber of its journalism on topics related to asylum seekers and migrants.
Read on »Exposing white Finnish privilege #42: Labeling and shaming
Migrant Tales published in 2015 a Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism that aimed at highlighting the too frequent poor reporting by the national media of our ever-growing non-white community of Finland. A story published by Iltalehti on October 27 is not only an example of shoddy journalism but one that is racist as well.
Read on »QUOTE OF THE DAY: White washing in Finland
If Finland had a very effective white washing* process in place from independence, who dismantled it or was it ever dismantled? I have my serious doubts. Blackfaces are still aired on Finnish television. The clip above was shown on Pressiklubi on October 6, 2017, and the full movie in 2016. In the 1970s, when it
Read on »Dear Finnish Nightmares, are you for real?
Dear Finnish Nightmares, When generalizing about how some white Finns may react, why is it that all of your characters are white? There are “other” Finns, too. Do you take them into account? Do you ever fear that generalizing a “model” reaction may reinforce stereotypes and as a result promote a monocultural and over-simplified view
Read on »Contrary to 2014, it’s a good matter that Pekka ja Pätkä’s n-word movies caused outrage
If there is anything positive to write about the Pekka ja Pätkä movies shown this month that use of blackface characters, the n-word and depict blacks and Amerindians as happy-go-lucky buffoons, it’s the outrage that at least one caused.
Read on »Pekka ja Pätkä n-word movie with blackface actors raises questions and outrage in Finland
Contrary to 2014, when YLE aired Pekka ja Pätkä n-word (1960), the new showing of the movie with blackface actors has raised quite a storm on social media and was reported by MTV, tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, and HBL.
Read on »Police study on immigration paints a threatening and bleak picture of Finland’s ever-growing culturally diverse society
Weird things happen when an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* get power and partner with two other mainstream parties, the Center Party and National Coalition Party (NCP), which have done too little to tackle racism and discrimination in Finland. One of the many things that can happen is a study, “Immigration, Security and Foresight,” published with the blessings of the council of state.
Read on »Researchers working for the police see falling support of the Perussuomalaiset as a danger to society
It’s incredible how even the police service feeds the xenophobic climate in Finland. A column published by two applied science researchers on the Police College of Finland page is a perfect example of the one-sided view that some people of the police service have.
Read on »UPDATE (November 20): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. November 20 Aukeavatko suvakin silmät? – (Tamperelainen) What’s wrong with this community paper editorial? Community papers like Helsingin Uutiset and Vantaa Sanomat are just as bad as other
Read on »UPDATE (October 25): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. October 25 Ensimmäiset pakolaiset olleet Suomessa jo yli 40 vuotta – vietnamilaiset sopeutuivat, somalit kohtaisivat ennakkoluuloja (Helsingin Sanomat) What’s wrong with this story? For one the headline
Read on »Helsingin Sanomat apologizes again for Estonian story but what about JSN’s Uimonen?
There’s an interesting story on Saturday’s Helsingin Sanomat where editor Kaius Niemi apologizes (again) for a story published on Estonians earlier this month after it become clear that a complaint had been made to the Council of Mass Media in Finland (JSN). The story that was removed asked readers to vote for the best nickname for Estonians. Some
Read on »UPDATE (Apr. 3): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. Apr. 3 This story was removed by Helsingin Sanomat the following day and the newspaper has apologized for publishing it. Miten kutsuisimme virolaisia? (Helsingin Sanomat) What’s wrong
Read on »UPDATE (Feb. 17): Migrant Tales’ 2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism
Migrant Tales’2015 Hall of Poor and Sloppy Journalism will be updated separately. To see other examples of opinionated journalism in Finland about cultural diversity, please go to this link. Feb. 17 Suomi pelkää terroristeja vähemmän kuin naapurimaat (Helsingin Sanomat) What’s wrong with this news story? Today’s front page of Helsingin Sanomat’s online edition has a picture of three
Read on »Response to Fazer’s gigolo says a lot about Finland today
The decision by the Council of Ethics in Advertising of Finland that there was nothing wrong with Fazer’s gigolo television commercial says a lot about why there is so little respect towards minorities in this country. For those who lived in Finland in the 1970s, Fazer’s gigolo was the typical stereotype of the southern European
Read on »Finnish anti-immigration politicians and parties spread on purpose lies to hide the truth and their culpability
Ever wonder why the Finnish media and politicians continue to spread lies about migrants and minorities like we’re lazy, stupid, criminals, rapists and a burden on society? OK, not all of them lie on purpose but too many remain silent and allow these types of urban tales to slip past them in silent approval. Say
Read on »“Fiery soul” Brazilian player could be handed one-way ticket back to his country
A Brazilian player who plays for MP of Mikkeli, a second-division football team, walks out in protest in the middle of a match against FC Myllypuro. His team is trailing 4-5. MP chairman Harri Kivinen and the team manager, Mika Korpela, are outraged and state that the player, Denis, probably won’t play for MP anymore and
Read on »How the Finnish media continues to be part of the problem by reinforcing stereotypes and racist perceptions of migrants and minorities
A news story about migrant crime was published by the Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat with a provocative drawing of a black man’s arms handcuffed. Migrant Tales got in touch with the reporter that wrote the story and asked why it was considered news at the end of July if it was based on a study published by The
Read on »A racist cartoon by the PS, a Finnish anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam party
Does the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party have issues with racism? Many will agree that they do starting from MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, who were sentenced for ethnic agitation, to city of Kemi councilman, Harri Turtiainen, who shamefully posted racist slogans of the Ku Klux Klan and US American Nazi party on his Facebook page. The intolerance
Read on »Finnish primary school books still depict foreigners stereotypically
It is quite incredible that one of the best school systems in the world still portrays people from different cultures in a stereotypic manner. Eeva Rinna, a doctoral researcher from Tampere University, claims that textbooks in primary school still depict Africans as bongo players, Cubans as happy and sociable and Germans as hard-working, reports YLE
Read on »Internet policeman Marko Forss mildly reprimanded by deputy ombudsman for tweeting stereotypes of the Roma
Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman Jussi Pajuoja mildly reprimanded Internet policeman Marko Forss for tweeting a so-called joke about the Roma, reports YLE. The personal tweet, as Migrant Tales reported in November, spread and strengthened stereotypes about the Roma. What did Forss, who was named policeman of the year in 2011, tweet? “Some funny things happen in police
Read on »The media should stop stereotyping immigrants!
Black is beautiful, but I have a question: Why is it that whenever there is a story about immigrants or refugees in the Finnish media, the picture that is published with the story is usually of a black man or Muslim woman? Publishing pictures that feed the public a stereotypical image of immigrants does nothing more
Read on »The Finnish media should stop picturing immigrants on social rollators
One of the problems when we challenge intolerance is to find its many hiding places and sources. Intolerance has many ways of surviving. One of these is microaggression that appears innocent on the surface but reinforces your exclusion, inferiority and to walk about in your new homeland with a social rollator as a marked human being. A
Read on »Say no to stereotypes because they are the fuel that myths and prejudice feed on
“Stereotypes have some truth to them” has some truth to it but not in the way people think. That truth is not about the stereotyped but the stereotyper. Julian Abagond The quote by Abagond not only exposes the stereotyper for what he or she is, but how racist myths and views of other groups are
Read on »Länsi-Savo and toilet etiquette for Russians
An article on Friday’s Länsi-Savo, a Mikkeli-based daily, is a good example of how old stereotypes are kept alive in this part of Finland. The article, headlined ABC Juva teaches Russians how to use the toilet bowl, reveals more than anything else our stereotypes and prejudices against Russians. Länsi-Savo is the biggest newspaper in Etelä-Savo,
Read on »Finnish Internet policeman spreads stereotypes on Twitter about the Roma
Finnish Internet policeman, Marko Forss, has been criticized for spreading stereotypes on Twitter about a Roma who tried to steal a frozen chicken from a market, according to tabloid Iltalehti. Shouldn’t Forss, who monitors hate sites and was named policeman of the year in 2011, know better? If it is surprising that Forss can make
Read on »Julian Abagond: “Stereotypes have some truth to them”
By Julian Abagond “Stereotypes have some truth to them” has some truth to it but not in the way people think. That truth is not about the stereotyped but the stereotyper. First, stereotypes are kept alive by confirmation bias: We notice the few examples that fit the stereotype and overlook the ton of examples that do
Read on »Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from June 2, 1993
Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.
Read on »Finland also locks up asylum seeker children
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- A child in the Joutseno Immigration Removal Center.
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