Annual Report 2020
ANNUAL REPORT
1 January – 31 December 2020
THE FOUNDATION AND ITS PURPOSE
The primary purpose of the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation is to secure the future of Finnish media and quality journalism, as well as to support freedom of speech.
The Foundation may also support other research and various initiatives of importance for the wellbeing, development or international standing of Finnish society. The Foundation may also organize competitions related to its operations.
The Foundation maintains the Päivälehti Museum and the Päivälehti Archives.
The Helsingin Sanomat Foundation was established in December 2005 and 2020 was its 15th year of operation.
The corona pandemic, which started in spring 2020 and continued throughout the year of operation, affected the Foundation’s operations in many ways. Seminars and events that had been agreed were cancelled and the Päivälehti Archives and Päivälehti Museum had to be closed to the public for several months. In addition, many journalists awarded fellowships abroad had their departure cancelled entirely or pushed back for a year.
IMPLEMENTATION OF PURPOSE
The Foundation fulfils its mission by awarding grants to research and training projects related to the media industry and to competitions in the field and to various freedom-of-speech initiatives.
The Foundation provides the public with free admission to exhibitions on the history and future of media and contemporary media held in the Päivälehti Museum. The Foundation also records documents, photographic materials and literature related to the operations of the Sanoma Group, Lehtikuva Picture Agency and their founders in the Päivälehti Archives. The materials are actively made available for the use of researchers, the media, collective memory and cultural organizations.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
General
The Foundation processed 98 grant applications in 2020 (2019: 57) amounting to a total of €10,201,935 (€4,009,796). Grants were awarded totalling €1,562,490 (€1,825,300) and fellowships totalling €290,271 (€444,455), making a total of €1,852,761 (€2,269,755). A total of 22 (18) projects were supported, with fellowships being determined as one project. In addition, it was decided to fund four projects in the direct call for applications: Media and journalism – the same playing field but different rules. €500,000 of the 2019 grant budget was earmarked for the direct call. Grants returned or revoked amounted to €118,500 (€83,513). Grants recognized as costs in the income statement include tuition fees and exchange rate differences.
Grantees and fellowship recipients are listed in Appendix 1.
Applicants for grants were informed in person and the names of grantees were published on the Foundation’s website. The final reports of the grantees’ research projects are also published on the website.
During its years of operation, 2006-2020, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation has awarded a total of €43,891,072 for a total of 371 projects. Grants totalling €1,081,499 have been cancelled during the years of operation.
Direct call for applications: Media and journalism – the same playing field but different rules
During the year under review, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees updated the application procedure. In the beginning of 2020, the Foundation launched a two-phase direct call for applications about the relationship between the media and journalism. The direct call for applications invited researchers, communicators and journalists to examine the radically changed media landscape in the 2010s and the impacts of these changes on the public, actors and the surrounding community. The most promising applicants were offered support to further develop their application.
€500,000 from the 2019 budget was earmarked for the direct call for applications. Grants were awarded to four projects: Tampere University, Laura Ahva, DSSc, Esa Reunanen, DSSc and Turku University of Applied Sciences: Individual paths of journalists: Qualitative longitudinal research (€168,000); University of Helsinki, Jaana Hujanen, PhD: How local communication and journalism operate in the same field (€136,000); University of Turku, Mona Mannevuo, PhD: Communication across borders: Shifting boundaries of politics, science and public relations (€120,000) and a multidisciplinary research community headed by Johannes Koponen, MSc: Cases where the known boundaries of journalism are stretched – inside and out (€76,000).
Competitions and awards
During the year, the Foundation established the Tiedettä suomeksi (Science in Finnish) award to support scientific publication in Finnish in the field of communication and to increase its value. The general public were requested to give nominations for the award and a total of 32 nominations were received.
The award criteria wanted to emphasize the importance of cooperation in science. There was also a desire to reward a publishing platform that does long-term publishing work.
The award money, €25,000, was shared between three winners. €15,000, the largest share of the award, went to the Finnish Association for Media and Communication Studies (Mevi) for its online journal Media & viestintä.
In addition, two awards of €5,000 were granted. The awards were made to the authors of a non-fiction work: Riku Neuvonen for his book Sananvapauden historia Suomessa (History of freedom of speech in Finland) (Gaudeamus 2018), Minna Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen and working group for the work Viestintä kuuluu kaikille. Kansalaisten viestinnälliset oikeudet ja mahdollisuudet Suomessa (Communication is for everyone. The communication rights and possibilities of citizens in Finland) (Gaudeamus 2019).
The Tiedettä suomeksi award will be given every other year, the next time being in 2022.
Together with the Finnish Red Cross, the Finnish Foundation for Media and Development VIKES and the Union of Journalists in Finland, the Foundation established the Award for Development Journalism. The theme of the first year of the competition was global migration and immigration. The competition winner was journalist Taina Tervonen with her article “Kadonneiden laiva” (The Ship of the Lost), which was published in Image magazine in September 2019. The €3,000 prize was awarded in early 2021.
The Uutisraivaaja media innovation competition was launched for the sixth time. The renewed competition seeks socially significant and topical journalistic projects that apply new technology. As in earlier competitions, the goal is to reform journalism and communication and to seek new ways of doing journalism. Maximum funding for any single project is €30,000. The Foundation has earmarked €250,000 for the competition. The beneficiaries will be selected in March 2021.
Freedom-of-speech projects
The Foundation continued cooperation with the International Press Institute (IPI). Supported by the Foundation during 2020, two Finnish students worked in Vienna, Austria in the organization focusing on press freedom issues. The internship seeks to offer young media students an opportunity to learn about the state of freedom of the press in different countries.
The Foundation continued to support the international UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The 2020 prize was awarded to Columbian investigative journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima. The prize is USD 25,000. Cano Foundation (Columbia) and Namibia Media Trust are the other funders of the prize.
Other grants
In spring 2020, the Foundation particularly hoped for applications relating to reporting of the corona pandemic. The Foundation wanted researchers to find out how, among other things, the Finnish media had fared in coronavirus reporting compared to the media in other countries, how the corona crisis had affected the work of a journalist in practice and content, and how communication by the public authorities worked. Projects relating to the subject were funded to a total of €457,000. The largest single grant, €150,000, was awarded to the project COVID-19 voices in Finnish news media in the global context: A comparative study of news media’s roles in pandemic communications and public perceptions across five countries, a project headed by Professor Chiara Valentini at the University of Jyväskylä.
During the year under review, the Foundation awarded major grants also to other research projects dealing with topical subjects. The Constitution and the transforming public sphere, a research project examining the nexus between constitutional law experts, politicians and journalists received a grant of €78,000. The project is headed by Professor Anu Kantola at the University of Helsinki.
The Targeted journalism? Personalized content, its aims and future in the Finnish media project explored the targeting and personalization of content in journalistic media – and what its aims are. The project received a grant of €93,000 and is headed by Henrik Rydenfelt, PhD at the University of Helsinki.
The University of Jyväskylä, Department of Language and Communication Studies, was awarded a grant of €98,000 for the research project The state of journalism in a changing media landscape. Headed by Professor Mikko Villi, the project examines more than 400 Finnish journalists’ perceptions of different types of risks and uncertainties in journalism. The analysis is being done as part of the third wave of Worlds of Journalism Study project, that assesses the state of journalism simultaneously in more than 110 countries across the world.
The size of grants awarded by the Foundation ranged between €7,990 (Bush Finns ry: Archiving and digitizing the documents of the former BBC World Service Finnish Section editorial staff) and €196,000 (University of Tampere, Leena Mikkola, PhD: Development of scientific thinking during the academic studies in journalism, communication and media studies).
Fellowships
The Foundation’s fellowship programme aims to develop the professional skills and capabilities of journalists and to support quality Finnish journalism and the success of Finnish media.
The fellowships are intended for journalists midway through their career. Applicants must have at least five years of experience of a journalist’s work. Applicants selected must represent a variety of different media; however, also freelance journalists may be elected. Efforts are made to select applicants from different parts of Finland.
During the academic year 2019–2020, the Foundation’s journalist fellows studied in Shanghai (Fudan University), Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin), Oxford (Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism), Los Angeles (USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism), New York (Columbia University Journalism School), Aarhus (Constructive Institute) and the European University in St Petersburg.
The corona pandemic, which started in early 2020 and worsened during the spring, forced most fellowship recipients to return to Finland and to continue their studies remotely. In addition, the World Press Institute fellowship program for journalists and the three-week summer course on investigative journalism at Columbia University were cancelled entirely.
Autumn 2020 saw the launch of applications for journalist fellowships for the 2021–2022 academic year. Because many persons already selected for a fellowship had postponed their departure by a year, only some fellowship places were open to application in the autumn round. A total of 10 applications were received (2019: 43). Besides the few places available, the prevailing corona situation may have contributed to the decrease in application numbers.
PREMISES, OPENING HOURS AND CUSTOMERS
The Helsingin Sanomat Foundation operates out of rented premises at Korkeavuorenkatu 28 and Ludviginkatu 2—4 in Helsinki.
The Päivälehti Museum was open to the public daily from 11am to 5pm (until 8pm on Wednesdays in June, except during the periods 17 March to 31 May 2020 and 30 November to 31 December 2020, when the Museum was closed because of the coronavirus situation. A small sales point opened at the Museum at the start of the year.
The Museum’s temporary closures and general coronavirus situation had a considerable impact both on total visitor numbers, around 20,000 (2019: 50,000), and on group visits, around 200 (2019:700). Some of the cancelled guided tours of the Museum were replaced by remote visits via Teams/Zoom. In addition, the Archives and Museum produced materials for the needs of online learning for schools. Work demonstrations in the Printing cellar were on hold almost throughout the year.
Similarly, the researcher room at the Päivälehti Archives was closed from 17 March to 31 May and again from 30 November onwards. During these periods customers were served electronically and minor requests for information were exceptionally dealt with free of charge. A total of 341 (586) researchers visited the researcher room during the year and 429 (758) other requests for information were dealt with. When restriction measures were in place, the Archives conducted a survey intended for journalists on the impact of the pandemic on work and wellbeing. The survey was carried out together with the Union of Journalists in Finland.
The big day for the researcher service was 30 April, when the Archives published the new electronic database on their website. During the year, archive catalogue information and more than ten thousand pages of digitized, historical archives, which are freely available to researchers, were published in the electronic archives. The archives of Eero Erkko, Maissi Erkko and J. H. Erkko were among the key Päivälehti personal archives published, together with numerous smaller archives belonging to the Erkko family.
EVENTS
The Foundation organizes media-themed events at the Päivälehti Museum. These events aim to promote social discussion, the visibility of science and the networking of journalists and researchers. In addition, the Foundation makes the Päivälehti Museum’s premises available free of charge to media industry actors and non-profit organizations.
Even though seminars and events had to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of events could be held at the Päivälehti Museum during the year.
The Night of Science took place on 16 January at the Päivälehti Museum and Päivälehti Archives. The Museum celebrated the Piirtäjien ilta (Cartoonists’ evening) to mark the recently opened Ansu-Antero Hallan oivaltavat viivat exhibition. In addition, archives researchers presented the Päivälehti Archives collections and services.
The closing seminar of the research project Tragediauutisoinnin haasteet – median mahdollisuudet käsitellä kouluampumisia (The Challenges of Tragedy Reporting: Mediating School Shootings) was held on 7 February. The research was conducted by the John Morton Center for North American Studies at the University of Turku and examined the different ways in which the US and Finnish media report school shootings.
The Mustahattuinen mies – pilakuvanäytelmä Karin piirroksista (Man in the black hat – a caricature play based on Kari’s cartoons) event was held on 9 February. Presented twice during the day, the caricature play brought to life some of the best-known drawings and characters in Kari Suomalainen’s cartoons through an actor, puppet theatre and live drawing. The play was written and directed by Jarkko Suhonen.
The first Totuuden rakennuspalikat (Building blocks of truth) series of talks was held together with Kone Foundation on 12 February. During the evening, the author and journalist Koko Hubara and docent Miika Tervonen, PhD discussed the work of a researcher, the emotions evoked by the work and the mental landscape of an author of truth. Because of the coronavirus situation, it was decided to stream the other two talks in the series. On 24 March 2020, Assistant Professor Minna Ruckenstein and journalist Olli Sulopuisto talked about the relationship between truth and technology. On 19 November 2020, Adjunct Professor Maarit Leskelä-Kärki’s and journalist Sara Hirvonen’s topic was esotericism and hidden Finnish cultural history.
The annual manual typesetting event was held in the Printing cellar at the Päivälehti Museum on 4 March 2020.
In spring 2020, two art projects open to the public were underway in the Printing cellar. Visual artist Aleksi Martikainen and poet Juha Rautio designed, composed and printed the artist book using materials in the Printing cellar. Visual artist Lotta Nevanperä printed illustrations and graphics for a book of poetry using materials in the Printing cellar. The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the artists’ work, but the projects will continue in 2021.
In early summer on 10 June, the Museum provided an info event for four Finnish influencers who had been selected for journalist fellowships at the Wilson Center, an international research centre and thinktank in Washington. A joint programme by four foundations was now held for the third time. There were a total of 36 applicants. New fellows are Charlotta Collén, strategy director at the University of Oulu, (funded by: Saara and Björn Wahlroos Foundation), Professor Päivi Lujala, from the University of Oulu (Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation), Mikael Salo, Senior Staff Officer at the Finnish Defence Forces (Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation) and Journalist Professor of Practice Olli Seuri at the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation/Tampere University (Helsingin Sanomat Foundation).
The closing seminar of the Emotions at Stake: Authority of the Media and Trust of the Audience research project took place on 26 August. This University of Helsinki project examined public trust in the news and digital content as well as their perceptions of the power of the news media and the performance of journalism.
The winners of the Tiedettä suomeksi (Science in Finnish) award were announced at the Päivälehti Museum on 21 September. The award was given for the first time. The largest prize money, €15,000, was awarded to the Media & viestintä online journal for its pioneering work as a Finnish-language publisher of media and communication research. In addition, two prizes of €5,000 were awarded to non-fiction writers, Riku Neuvonen for his book Sananvapauden historia Suomessa (History of freedom of speech in Finland) and Minna Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen and working group for the work Viestintä kuuluu kaikille. Kansalaisten viestinnälliset oikeudet ja mahdollisuudet Suomessa (Communication is for everyone. The communication rights and possibilities of citizens in Finland).
EXHIBITIONS
Measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus, in particular the temporary closure of the Museum, also affected the exhibition programme and schedule. The jubilee exhibition of cartoonist Antero Halla (Ansu) was held as planned from 15 January to 16 February 2020, but Peter Jansson’s photography exhibition Tilanne päällä (Situation), originally scheduled for 26 February to 25 March 2020 had to be closed about a week earlier than planned. Because a lot of people were unable to see the Seitsemän koiraveljestä – Seikkailu Aleksis Kiven tyyliin (The Seven Dog Brothers – an Adventure in the Style of Aleksis Kivi) exhibition when the Museum was closed, it was decided to extend the exhibition until the end of 2020. Together with the Finnish Institute in Estonia, an easily movable miniature of the exhibition was made and toured Estonian schools in autumn 2020. Also the Helsingin Sanomat 130 years jubilee exhibition, which was completed in November 2019, toured Finnish libraries until April. The Nishiki-e shimbun – The Most Exciting News Prints from the Japanese Meiji Period exhibition scheduled for autumn 2020 was postponed until the early part of 2021.
COLLECTIONS
The Foundation’s collections comprise paper and digital documents, newspapers and magazines, photographs, books, microfilms, historical interviews, museum objects and works of art. Collection work ensures the preservation for future generations of important materials primarily of Sanoma Corporation but also of other media operators.
Documents and newspapers
At year-end 2020, the Päivälehti Archives included a total of 3,347.75 (2019: 3,392.5) shelf metres of manual materials and 6 (3) terabytes of digital materials. Changes in the volumes of materials compared to the previous year are largely explained by a change in the way of calculation and arrangement of the material that took place during the year.
A total of 35 (38) donations of material, of which 1 (3) were non-recurring donations of digital material, were received during the year. In addition, the Archive received updates to its Sanoma Group digital communication material.
During the year, 70 shelf metres of analogue archive materials were arranged. The largest entities arranged were a continuation of the Sanoma Group archives (approximately 1967–1999) and an entity covering almost all the group’s subsidiaries. The remainder of the Rautakirja archive was transferred to the Central Archives for Finnish Business Records (Elka) and at the same time a start was made on preparations to move the share registers in the WSOY archive to the National Archives of Finland.
During the year under review, a 3-year digitization plan was drawn up for the Päivälehti Archives. In 2020, 20,800 digitized pages were exported to the YKSA system, where there are now a total of 199,400 pages stored.
Objects, photographs, interviews and library
In 2020, a total of 14 (16) donations were added to the object collections. These donations consisted of objects related to the marketing, editorial work and printing technology of organizations belonging to Sanoma Corporation. Donations of objects related to printing were also received from external donors including visual artist Allan Frilander and collector Pentti O. Hiltunen.
At year-end 2020, the collection included some 5,000 objects, of which 3,148 (2,706) have been digitally catalogued in the Akseli databank. Of these, 924 (897) objects are publicly accessible through the Arjenhistoria portal and FINNA databank. Catalogue and digitization work continues.
Of the object collections that have been catalogued, printing plates accounted for 27.6% (2019: 24%), printing objects 17.9% (18%) and objects related to editorial work 16.7% (18.3%).
The Museum’s collections were stored in the cellars at Ludviginkatu in Helsinki and in Martinlaakso (Sanomala), Vantaa. Ensuring sufficient future storage space required the removal of duplicates in the Museum’s furnishing collection and of furniture of secondary relevance to the Museum’s collection policy. The furniture removed was donated for recycling to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre Ltd.
At year-end, 15,430 (13,810) of the Foundation’s some 20,000 photographs had been digitized.
During the year under review, 7 (12) historical interviews were conducted with former Sanoma employees. The coronavirus situation hampered conducting interviews, and this affected the number of persons interviewed.
Formerly located in the basement, the so-called Minister’s Library, which belonged to Eljas Erkko, was moved to the archive storeroom on the second floor to make it accessible to researchers. The extensive collection of more than 3,000 volumes has been preserved in its original order. It contains bibliophilic rarities, fiction classics as well as extensive sets relating to society, politics and history. The collection has been catalogued in the YKSA system.
Cooperation related to collection management
The Päivälehti Archives continued to work together with Digitalia – Research Center on Digital Information Management operating at the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk). Regarding the Päivälehti Archives, Digitalia is now focusing on converting electronic calendars to user friendly archival format.
In July, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation joined the Time Machine Europe project as a founder member. The project aims to develop means of digitizing printed material of the past to enable the written cultural heritage stored in archives, libraries and museums throughout Europe to be made available in digital form on a large scale.
In autumn, the Päivälehti Archives and Päivälehti Museum were involved in the City of Helsinki’s history portal project by compiling and submitting electronic material related to the history of Päivälehti and Helsingin Sanomat, Ludviginkatu and printing to the portal’s editorial staff.
The Museum has assisted printing industry operators by among other things guiding donations of objects to suitable parties. In national TAKO cooperation – an acquisition, documentation and collection collaboration network for professionally managed Finnish museums – the Päivälehti Museum is responsible for the preservation of artefacts and traditions relating to newspaper publishing operations.
FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT ACTIVITIES
The Helsingin Sanomat Foundation’s expense deficit from ordinary operations costs was €3,774,276 (2019: €4,516,457), of which grants and journalist fellowships accounted for €1,734,260 (€2,186,242). During the accounting period, €607,983 (€718,955) was paid in wages and salaries.
The surplus for the accounting period was €2,068,440 (€11,583,510).
The Foundation’s deferred liabilities amounted to €2,953,139 (€2,842,904), of which unpaid grants and fellowships accounted for €2,626,971 (€2,623,831).
The coronavirus pandemic, which spread since the early part of the year, seriously affected the financial markets. Spring saw an unprecedentedly rapid and sharp collapse in stock prices.
Rapid, enormous stimulus measures coordinated by governments and central banks led to a rapid recovery of stock prices, which in many sectors rose to pre-coronavirus crisis levels.
A consequence of central banks’ measures was that interest rates fell to record low levels.
The corona crisis caused uncertainty in, for example, the functioning of the financial markets and the payment of dividends by companies. This is why the Foundation quickly drew up an emergency plan to safeguard activities in the event of the crisis worsening and becoming prolonged. Once the situation had calmed down and the markets had recovered, it was possible to return to the normal agenda in the early autumn.
The corona pandemic thus had no significant impact on investment activities on an annual basis. Operations were financed by cash flow from investments.
The Foundation’s related parties include the members and deputy members of the Board of Trustees, the members of the Finance Committee, the President, Vice President/Director of the Päivälehti Museum and the Päivälehti Archives, and the auditors, including their family members and any organizations and foundations controlled by them.
The attendance fees paid to the members of the Board of Trustees, the Working Committee and Finance Committee during the year amounted to €19,600. Attendance fees are paid for each meeting to those members present only. The Board of Trustees deems the fees to be in line with general practice taking into account the duties of the members of the Board and committees and the time and expertise required.
In addition, fees of €226,068 were paid to the Foundation’s President and Vice President. The auditor was paid against invoice. During the year under review, the Foundation had no other related-party transactions. The Foundation received no subsidies or grants during the year under review.
Income from investment and financial activities was €5,729,128 (2019: €15,127,233). Profit shares from investment funds were €2,515,274 (€1,341,542), gains from securities sold were €0 (€10,631,468) and dividend income was €3,111,247 (€3,000,619). The surplus from investment and financial activities was €5,842,716 (€16,099,967).
Changes in the value of investments were €29,499,219 (€7,550,229). The unrealized changes in the value of direct investments in equities were recognized in the fair value reserve, where cumulative changes in value totalled -€17,526,413 (-€46,895,649).
The change in the value of Sanoma Corporation was around +€28.7 million compared to the previous year and investment funds gained around €350,000 (other equities +€700,000).
At the turn of the year, the market value of the Foundation’s assets was €152 million (€125 million). Equity investments accounted for 92.9% (98.7%) and fixed-income investments for 7.1% (1.3%) of the Foundation’s assets. Sanoma shares accounted for 42.5% (43.1%) of total assets.
During the year under review, it was possible to initiate the long-planned diversification programme of the Foundation’s securities portfolio by divesting 1 million Sanoma shares (around 17% of the Sanoma holding). The strong rise in the Sanoma share price meant that there was hardly any change in the Sanoma weighting in the portfolio.
By the end of the year, most of the proceeds from the divestment had been invested in shares in Finnish and Swedish companies distributing good dividends and in the USA equity fund.
There were no other material changes in asset allocation during the year under review.
The total return on the portfolio was 24.49% (21.5%). The return on investments in the money market was 0.20% (0.7%). The return on Sanoma shares was 52.65% (16.7%), other direct investments in equities 7.43% (19.3%) and on equity funds 5.41% (27.0%).
As in earlier years, the return on investments was exceptionally good. This was again largely attributable to the exceptionally strong rise in the price of the Sanoma share.
When evaluating the result, it should be remembered that the Foundation’s annual returns may fluctuate significantly. Volatility does not significantly affect the Foundation’s operations.
Accounting and cash management services for the Foundation were provided by Balance-Team Ltd.
RISKS AND RISK MANAGEMENT
The main objective of financial activities is to preserve and grow the real value of assets long term. The Foundation’s investment activities aim also for a steady cash flow and adequate liquidity to ensure the continuity of ordinary operations. Given the long-term investment horizon, the investment strategy is equity weighted (equity weighting was 92.9% at year-end) and the investment portfolio is not generally speaking hedged. Short-term movements in prices are of no relevance to the Foundation since the Foundation strives for good long-term real returns and a good cash flow.
In accordance with the investment strategy, the investments are diversified geographically, spread across different industries, company-specifically and in terms of forex. The investments are mainly in liquid securities and funds, which can quickly be converted into cash. This means the Foundation has a low liquidity risk.
The domestic and international economic situation is reflected in the Foundation’s investments. The main risk in investment activities is the general market risk, in other words the long-term performance of the international equity markets and dividend levels. In addition, Sanoma Corporation shares account for 42.5% (43.1%) of the Foundation’s assets and thus constitute the largest single exposure.
The Board of Trustees has adopted a separate plan with regard to the Sanoma risk. Assets have been managed and investments made in line with the investment policy adopted by the Board of Trustees and matters concerning investment activities have been discussed in the Foundation’s Finance Committee.
COMMUNICATION AND VISIBILITY
The Helsingin Sanomat Foundation openly and actively provides information about its operations. The Foundation’s website is in Finnish and English (www.hssaatio.fi). The Päivälehti Archives and Päivälehti Museum have their own websites (www.paivalehdenarkisto.fi and www.paivalehdenmuseo.fi). The Foundation has social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Journalists share experiences of their fellowship periods at www.stipendiblogi.fi.
In addition, the Foundation maintains a website on the Uutisraivaaja competition at www.uutisraivaaja.fi.
MEMBERSHIPS
Helsingin Sanomat Foundation is a member of the Association of Finnish Foundations, the European Foundation Centre and the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce.
The Päivälehti Museum is a member of the Finnish Museums Association, the Traffic Museums Association, Helsinki Design District and the Association of European Printing Museums.
The Päivälehti Archives are a member of the Finnish Business Archive Association.
Personnel
Helsingin Sanomat Foundation employed nine (2019: 10) permanent employees.
Kyösti Lamminpää, who had served the Päivälehti Archives as a special researcher for 36 years, retired on 1 July 2020.
The Foundation’s in-house planning day was held on 22 October. During the afternoon, the Foundation planned its future operations to 2025.
Auditors
Authorized accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers Oy served as the Foundation’s auditors, with Valtteri Helenius APA as the lead auditor.
2021
For 2021, the Foundation has earmarked €2 million for grants and journalist fellowships. Grant decisions place particular emphasis on inter-disciplinarity, inter-university cooperation and topicality.
The Päivälehti Archives and Päivälehti Museum will continue to develop digital services. During the year, a start will also be made on designing the reform of the Museum’s next permanent exhibition. The revamped museum will open to the public in 2023.
