Päivän Sanomat (Finnish: Daily News) was a left socialist newspaper published between 1957 and 1972 in Helsinki, Finland. Its subtitle was ammattiyhdistys- ja työläisurheiluväen sanomalehti (Finnish: Newspaper of trade union and workers).[1] It was financed by the Soviet Union during its early years.

Päivän Sanomat
TypeDaily newspaper
PublisherLadottu Meali Oy
Founded1957
Political alignmentLeft socialism
LanguageFinnish
Ceased publication13 October 1972
HeadquartersHelsinki
CountryFinland

History and profile

edit

Päivän Sanomat was launched in 1957 by the members of a dissident group, Social Democratic League, who left the Social Democratic Party.[2] Its establishment was funded by the Soviet Union.[2] The paper was first published by the publishing house which also published the communist paper Kansan Uutiset.[2] Later its publisher became Ladottu Meali Oy based in Helsinki.[3] The founding editor-in-chief was Matti Kurjensaari.[4] Emil Skog joined its editorial board in 1959.[4]

Päivän Sanomat had a left socialist leaning[5] and was published daily except Sunday.[3] When Norwegian Army joined a number of manoeuvres with the NATO forces in northern Norway from 1962, the Soviet Union criticized Norway.[5] About this incident Päivän Sanomat adopted a moderate stance arguing that Norway should not damage the Nordic balance.[5] The paper and Kansan Uutiset both condemned the anti-Soviet discourse of the Chinese ruler Mao Zedong.[6]

The paper folded on 13 October 1972 with the publication of the last issue numbered 190.[3]

Circulation

edit

Päivän Sanomat sold 60,000 copies in 1958 and 90,000 copies in 1959.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Päivän sanomat". finna.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c James H. Billington (2015). "Finland". In Cyril E. Black; Thomas P. Thornton (eds.). Communism and Revolution: The Strategic Uses of Political Violence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 134. ISBN 9781400874729.
  3. ^ a b c "Päivän sanomat". Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Kustannusosakeyhtiö Päivän Sanomat". porssitieto.fi (in Finnish).
  5. ^ a b c Arne Olav Brundtland (1966). "The Nordic Balance: Past and Present". Cooperation and Conflict. 1 (4): 51. doi:10.1177/001083676600100403. S2CID 197669601.
  6. ^ Esko Salminen (1999). The Silenced Media The Propaganda War between Russia and the West in Northern Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 38. doi:10.1057/9780230389922. ISBN 978-0-230-38992-2.