Culture

These are the YLE programmes that will end as a result of the change negotiations

These are the YLE programmes that will end as a result of the change negotiations

Broadcasting Campus in Pasila, Helsinki, March 11, 2025.
Yle will have to change its ways of working because of the savings required by a parliamentary working group. The broadcaster will have to save a total of €66 million by 2027.

The savings on YLE will change its programming. Some programmes will cease.

As a result of YLE’s change negotiations, the number of programmes will be reduced, the organisation will be restructured and management will be streamlined.

– Despite the cost savings, we will ensure that we can continue to produce diverse and high-quality content for a wide range of Finns and fulfil our important mission, Merja Ylä-Anttila continues.

Savings on the general basis change its program offerings.  Some programs cease.
Yle’s CEO Merja Ylä-Anttila announced the upcoming changes at Yle’s premises in Pasila on Wednesday.

Changing programme offer

Funding cuts and staff reductions will have a concrete impact on the services and content provided by YLE.

The number of program titles will decrease and some of the programs will be published in the future fewer sections.

These are the YLE programmes that will end as a result of the change negotiations Read More »

How Yle’s regional radio broadcasts will change – Editor-in-Chief Panu Pokkinen explains why and how

How Yle’s regional radio broadcasts will change – Editor-in-Chief Panu Pokkinen explains why and how

Headphones on the radio studio sliding.
Radio Finland’s regional broadcasts will change in the autumn.

The programming times and content of Yle Radio Finland’s regional broadcasts will change in the autumn. Soon, Tampere will be broadcasting to the whole of Finland.

Yle’s regional radio broadcasting schedules will change next autumn. The changes have already raised concerns in advance, as it is feared that regionalism will suffer.

The changes to the provincial editions will have a particular impact on Radio Finland’s transmission schedule.

The previous model was to have ten regional live radio broadcasts in the mornings and afternoons.

From the autumn, the regions’ own \”presenter sounds\” will disappear and the plot is done centrally from Tampere. However, local journalists will have access to Radio Finland several times during the day.

How Yle’s regional radio broadcasts will change – Editor-in-Chief Panu Pokkinen explains why and how Read More »

Art organisations were dismayed by the draft law, the Ministry amended the proposal – this is how grants will be distributed in the future

Art organisations were dismayed by the draft law, the Ministry amended the proposal – this is how grants will be distributed in the future

Picture of modern circus, dance and illustrator.
Next year, grants from the Arts Promotion Centre will be distributed by a new agency. At the same time, the way grants are distributed would change.

The distribution of state artist grants is moving to a new agency. Culture Minister Mari-Leena Talvitie (Coalition Party) assures that artistic freedom will continue to be preserved.

The Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) is currently finalising a draft law on the new Culture Agency. It is intended to distribute state artist grants in the future. The bill is due to be submitted to Parliament in mid-April, and the new agency should start operating early next year.

The new agency will combine the functions of the Arts Promotion Centre (Taike) and the National Audiovisual Institute (NIA). The latter is known for its extensive film and TV archive, while Taike distributes grants and subsidies to the liberal arts sector.

The liberal arts sector refers to organisations and creators of art and culture that do not have access to state funding protected by law.

The draft law received a dismayed reception in the winter, as many art organizations were afraid that freedom of art would endanger the new agency.

Art organisations were dismayed by the draft law, the Ministry amended the proposal – this is how grants will be distributed in the future Read More »

Theatre sector negotiation result approved – several strikes cancelled

Theatre sector negotiation result approved – several strikes cancelled

On the stage, a performer colorful, patched pants and placed boots from her ankle.
The strikes announced in April in professional theatres across the country have been called off. Illustration.

The parties approved a collective agreement on the tasks of theatrical performers and dancers on Tuesday, the Office of the National Mediator told the X News Service.

The union of theatre and media workers Teme and the employers’ organisation Suomen Teatterit had discussed the outcome of the negotiations in their administrations on Monday.

The approval means that the strikes in professional theatres across the country, announced for four days in April, will be cancelled. The overtime and shift ban already in force was also lifted.

However, the labour dispute concerning the actors has not yet been settled. According to the Office of the National Mediator, mediation in the dispute started on Tuesday and will continue on Thursday if the parties do not find a solution before then.

The Actor Association has previously left a warning of a strike, which would be held on April 5.

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Yle’s foreign editor Antti Kuronen selects the Finlandia winner for non-fiction

Yle’s foreign editor Antti Kuronen selects the Finlandia winner for non-fiction

Antti Kuronen reports Malmö.
Yle’s foreign correspondent Antti Kuronen is one of the shortlisted candidates for this year’s Finlandia Prizes for Literature.

The winners of the Finlandia Awards have been selected. They include a foreign journalist, a musician and an athlete.

The Finnish Book Foundation has appointed the selectors and juries for the 2025 Finlandia Awards.

For each category, the Book Foundation also appointed its own panels to select six nominees, from which the winner will be chosen by people known as the Finlandia dictators.

The Finlandia prizes are worth €30 000 each.

Nominees for non-fiction, children’s and youth literature and fiction will be found in consecutive days from 4 November.

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Tapani Kansa has died – the pop singer’s colourful career lasted more than 50 years

Tapani Kansa has died – the pop singer’s colourful career lasted more than 50 years

Tapani Kansa mood.
Tapani Kansa was one of the most popular artists in Finland.

Recording artist Tapani Kansa became known as a powerful interpreter and a colourful personality.

Kansa had a long career in domestic entertainment, dance halls and TV shows. The handsome, dark-haired artist also starred in a TV movie.

The nation became known for his offensive statements, some of which he regretted in his old age. The singer, who used to travel to gig venues by car, was in the headlines for his speeding escapades. Kansa was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the second half of the 1990s and spoke openly about it in his biography *Tapani Kansa – stories from the singer’s road* (2023).

Childhood was a difficult time

Born in Hamina, Kansa was the firstborn in a family of many children. The Kansa family lived in a modest room in the grandparents’ migrant house. His mother was a talented singer and his father, a tin smith, a fiery communist and working-class writer.

Tapani Kansa in long -haired and sunglasses in front of a television camera.
Tapani Kansa, who reached the top in MTV’s Lista programme in 1971.

The people later said that childhood was not happy in any way. He became an uncertain child full of fear and anxiety. The contradictory feelings of childhood were added to the fact that a believer’s grandmother preached to the son of Jesus and the sin.

Tapani Kansa has died – the pop singer’s colourful career lasted more than 50 years Read More »

Tomi Lindfors is a wheelchair-bound alcoholic and one of the stars of Aleksi Salmenperä’s new film

Tomi Lindfors is a wheelchair-bound alcoholic and one of the stars of Aleksi Salmenperä’s new film

Tomi Lindfors wrapped in a break in the shooting break.
Inexperienced Tomi Lindfors plays one of the lead roles in Aleksi Salmenperä’s new film.

The Jussi Award-winning director’s comedy-drama The Back Room will premiere in early 2026, starring Tommi Korpela and Laura Birn, among others.

Lindfors is mostly wheelchair-bound and his speech is slurred in places. He has a background of alcohol dependence and a brain haemorrhage in 2014. He has little experience of acting.

“Action scenes for older men”

The wind is blowing at Vanhankaupunginkoski in Helsinki on Wednesday morning. It’s the penultimate day of filming for *Backstage*.

Today we film a scene in which Veikko (Korpela) has brought the residents of the service unit to the riverbank to fish. Among them is Veikko’s old friend Tinke (Lindfors), who has been drinking herself into a bad state.

Korpela and Loperi make sound in the scene, Lindfors mainly sits and reacts to others. Lindfors also knows more about more functional scenes in the film. Going for swimming and washing, for example.

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