Disappointment and joy. Excitement and charm. The European Championships in athletics have come to an end and the week offered Finns a wide range of emotions. We are at the core of ‘s mission.
Panu Pokkinen Responsible editor of the Sports and events unit
Almost every Finn is happy today by Oliver Helander about the European Championship bronze achieved on the last night and the rise of young Finns to the top of Europe. Almost everyone remembers too by Camilla Richardsson and Alisa Vainio a hug that summed up disappointment and expectations that weren’t quite fulfilled.
The moments offered by the European Athletics Championships in Rome, which ended yesterday, are at the core of Finnishness. Culture, sports and history offer common experiences to people in a divided world.
No matter how the medal fights went, the millions of spectators in the EC stands show that sport has a huge potential to bring people together. It is important in this time.
On the field and in the stands at home, we rejoice over joint successes and also share the pain of failures. The approach would have a lot to learn for the rest of society as well.
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The world is currently more unstable than it has been in a long time. In a moment of uncertainty, people tend to turn inward and doubt even the obvious. Rather be against than for.
At , we want to be like the spirit of sports, building understanding between people instead of confrontation.
Sharpening can be a good way to get attention, spark discussion and get ideas moving, but it shouldn’t be the sole value of everything. It’s much harder to be constructive.
Unifying experiences are a key part of ‘s mission enshrined in law. Public service media play a significant role in building the nation’s story and supporting the people’s power.
In addition to having fun, sports and events also have a deeper meaning. It’s about shared feelings and unifying experiences. They are of enormous importance in the construction of faith in the future and the nation’s identity.
Content that takes care of the nation’s memory and traditions, as well as the common language, is hoped for, expected and even demanded from . And that they are freely available to all Finns, not behind paywalls.
And it’s not just about big moments in sports, we also need culture and other traditions. Bigger and smaller shared moments. Different things connecting different people. Sports and music, galas and atmosphere of independence, wisdom and elections too.
With everything changing all the time, people think they need each other less than ever. Developing technology and algorithms drive people who think differently further apart. We have to fight against this trend.
Even though we drift further apart, we need each other more than ever. When the world around us changes, we need anchors in our lives. We need each other and experiences of permanence. They create security and faith in the future.
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It is of the utmost importance that citizens experience Finland and the Finnish way of life as their own in the future as well.
A nation’s identity develops over time, but it is built on the unifying story of history. The joy and pain of sports is an important part of our story. It contributes to developing the idea of the place of people and Finland in the modern world and gives an idea of a common future. Create security.
In this world, Ylen needs to play its part even more strongly in ensuring that the nation’s story lives on and develops. There is no future without identity – a solid backbone that I can rely on for support.
Now and in the next few years, has an even stronger obligation to find and put olivers, wilmas and wrappers on the lips of Finns. To be a mirror of Finland and Finnishness, to create faith in the future through shared experiences.
If the faith in a common future is lost, the building blocks of future success will also be lost. Without a common story, there is no common identity either. It is precisely in its construction that ‘s role is central.
Panu Pokkinen
The author is the editor in charge of ‘s Sports and events unit