“The media did a great job in handling the media harassment scandal,” writes Siltamäki.
“Well, what are these media parties like from a young woman’s point of view?” asked my companion at the Great Journalism Awards dinner.
How nice of you to ask!
The last time, during the continuation of these parties, a wide-eyed slob pretending to be a provincial mogul asked me at the bar of the Erottaja bar if we could fall in love and get married. Shortly afterwards I escorted a tearful party guest (female, young) home after another party guest (male, not young) had gone to, shall we say, *get acquainted*.
At the epiphany party of my former employer Aamulehti, a cheerful, already slightly pale, elderly man came up to the editorial editors’ table to ask who and whose companion I am, because I clearly can’t be an editorial editor when I’m *so beautiful*.
Since I was very drunk at the dinners and Club For Five was about to perform again, I couldn’t prioritize my limited resources to any of the Great Me too galas.
On average, at parties in the industry, the bigger problem than the occasional slime of colleagues is their genuineness and terrible taste in music. Only a journalist can think of calling it a party when a couple of hundred booming middle-aged people holler about freedom of speech and media revolution to the rhythm of a cappella hum. On the other hand, there are usually a lot of free drinks on offer, and if you can listen to the free speech speeches, you might get work, booze and gossip as compensation.
After getting over the gala hangover, I packed my evening dress and left for Tampere for the next party. Their gossip has then been discussed quite thoroughly in public.
Aamulehti is the largest newspaper in Pirkanmaa, which employs many former and current students from Tampere. Aamulehti was the main sponsor of the party and Tuulensuu was the party speaker. There were a couple of hundred guests, most of them current students in their twenties. Later on, people started talking at the club that *something* had happened, as a result of which Tuulensuu was removed from the bar.
On Monday morning, the student association announced that there have been several cases of harassment at the party and that information is being collected about those who experienced and witnessed it. In the afternoon, Tuulensuu announced his resignation. Later on the same day, it was announced that many party guests had told Tuulensuu that he had behaved in a disturbing manner and, for example, touched inappropriately.
The investigation of the cases itself remained to a lesser extent.
The subject organization refused to disclose the details of the events to the public, and as I write this, the journalists have not managed to get any of the victims of harassment to speak publicly about it, either by name or anonymously. Since the press can’t really report vague rumors about what might have happened or what might have been said, the stories were mostly content with referencing the students’ announcements and admiring their crisis communication skills.
But I do wonder if the opportunity for a broader discussion and clarification of the harassment in the industry is missed again. The last time the prevalence of harassment was determined was five years ago, with a survey that gained quite little popularity. At that time, one in three of the women under 31 who answered had experienced harassment.
And even or especially when it comes to allegations about one’s own colleagues in one’s own field, they should be clarified according to the normal journalistic process. In the uproar of politics, it is less common to praise anyone’s communication skills in handling the uproar. Without information about what exactly has happened, it is difficult for the public to assess the seriousness of the actions and the reasonableness of the consequences.
In recent years, we have wondered many times whether it is already time for the Me too in the media industry. The wait seems to continue.
*Tuija Siltamäki*
*The author is a freelance journalist who studied in Tampere, who was too focused on his own anniversary celebration to see or experience harassment.*
*The column can be discussed on 22.3. until 23:00.*