Freedom of press under threat

Press freedom is under greater threat than in decades. Countries such as Russia have censored

the media to the extent that critical media has become nonexistent, but President Trump’s recent

attacks on the press and the coinage of “fake news” have diminished the capabilities of the free

press in western societies, too.

For Helsingin Sanomat, the Nordic’s leading newspaper, freedom of the press is one of its core

values. Though Finland is one of the highest-ranking countries in press freedom, the paper has

seen several shutdowns during its 130-year history.

A message for the presidents

Thus, when the first-ever summit between presidents Trump and Putin was announced to take

place in Helsinki, Helsingin Sanomat jumped on the opportunity to send an important message –

by welcoming the presidents to the land of free press.

With only 18 days’ notice, the paper created an outdoor campaign that targeted the two presidents

directly as they drove from the airport to the summit in central Helsinki. Nearly 300 billboards

containing headlines taken directly from the newspaper regarding both presidents and their

relationship with the media were placed along three possible routes.

Triggering a global discussion

In just 48 hours, the campaign generated over 2 600 news articles online in 55 countries, was

widely covered in traditional media, gained over a million interactions on social media, and reached

a total of 1,25 billion people. More importantly, it brought freedom of the press back on the map

and ignited a movement for its defence: The Boston Globe initiated a torrent of hundreds of

newspaper editorials against Trump’s attacks towards the media.

“The Land of Free Press was a timely reminder of how endangered press freedom is worldwide”,

wrote The Economist.