Presidential elections | Yle's board chairman Halla-aho's criticism: Vague accusations offend Yle's staff

Yleisradio the chairman of the board Matti Apusen according to the presidential candidate of the Basic Finns Jussi Halla-aho presented Ilta-Sanomi's election exam There are very heavy accusations against Yle, which are not even justified by Halla-aho's position as a presidential candidate and thus the desire to have a critical discussion.

According to Apusen, vague accusations do not serve the purpose of a substantive media political discussion. In addition, such accusations “hurt the professionalism and integrity of Yleisradio's staff”.

Also chairman of the Sdp parliamentary group Titti Tuppurainen disapproves of Halla-aho's criticism of Yle. Tuppurainen says in his press release that Halla-aho's attack against Yle is an “incomprehensible feat”.

“This is yet another speech that does not suit the speaker representing the entire parliament,” Tuppurainen says.

Parliament supervises Yle's operations and appoints its supervisory board.

Halla-aho said in the election exam that Yle's funding must be cut with a harsh hand, in accordance with what Perusfinlomen have demanded in the past. During the opposition period, the party proposed in the alternative budget that 144 million euros would be cut from the budget, which corresponds to about a fourth of Yle's funding. Halla-aho announced that it will continue to support this goal.

According to Halla-aho, generous public money leads to “rot, corruption and good brother and good sister networks”.

In addition, he accused Yle of leaning ideologically very strongly to the left and therefore not producing balanced information.

“Fundamental Finns has never explained what functional analysis the party's demands for budget cuts of around 140 million are based on. Without this kind of analysis, the lump sum seems like a randomly generated and politically motivated punishment,” says Apunen in his press release.

I'll help according to Yle, the leading principle of journalism and content production is to promote pluralism, and the company especially strives to ensure that minorities are taken into account and majorities are heard.

According to Apusen, pluralism shows itself, for example, in who is invited to the programs, in what light people are presented and how they are spoken to.

“It is very difficult to see justifications for Halla-aho's accusations of a lack of equality if you observe, for example, how representatives of parties and worldviews participate in different types of Yle programs,” says Apunen.

I'll help Yle is ready for a constructive discussion about cost control and the limits of public service. According to him, expenses have also b
een restrained, as in the last decade Yle's financing index increases were frozen for years.

Petteri Orpon The (kok) board, in which the Basic Finns are involved, was established in October as agreed in the board program parliamentary working group to evaluate Yleisradio's funding and public service mission.

According to the board program, Yle's financing and use of funds will be opened to the public, and the goal is for Yle to set an example in transparency and efficient use of money.

Matti Apunen has previously served as editor-in-chief of Aamulehti, among other things. He started as chairman of Yle's eight-member board in 2021.