MTV3 News Does Its Part for the Elections

Timo Haapala and Merja Ylä-Anttila. Photo by Hannu Puuko

Some nine months after controversial parliamentary elections in Finland, the country elected a new president last Sunday. And MTV3 was there all along for voters. "We have a responsibility as the biggest commercial channel in Finland," says Merja Ylä-Anttila, editor-in-chief for MTV3 News. "It's a Freedom of Speech issue really - we need to provide an alternative view from YLE, the state-sponsored channel."

It's a responsibility that MTV3 News takes very seriously, and the channel went all out to give its viewers both a factual in-depth as well as personal look at all the candidates, not just on its broadcast programs, but also on its website and even in social media, which played a big role in the election.

"In the first round, all of the eight candidates were interviewed for a full half-hour program each," says Ylä-Anttila. The candidates were also interviewed in English by AP reporter David McDougall, and individually spent a full two hours in front of a live audience on the morning show, including preparing their favorite foods in front of the audience. When the slate narrowed down to a runoff between Sauli Niinistö of the conservative National Coalition Party who won the first round and faced off against Pekka Haavisto of the Green League, the channel also broadcast a highly-ranked debate program between the two, with a live audience as well of supporters from both sides.

"What we provided was a package of facts and entertainment," says Ylä-Anttila. "This is politics, and people are interested in who a candidate is as a person, they need not just the facts but drama and a story and we got so much good feedback about the way we provided this - not just from other media but from our main competitor, YLE, who said we covered things better than they did even."

On the mtv3.fi website, the channel also offered plenty of information, updates and news as well as a very active Facebook page and regular Twitter updates. One of the biggest hits was a wildly popular "election machine" in which voters could match their own viewpoints to those of the candidates - a whopping 1 million Finns used it, this in a country with a population of 5.4 million.

"It was a huge accomplishment to reach so many voters," says Ylä-Anittila. "All told we had 3 million viewers on our programs, website and in social media. That's 72 percent of the population. The biggest challenge in this kind of situation is probably making sure journalists don't get carried away in the excitement, something we managed quite well."