STT (The Finnish News Agency) announced on 29 October that it would lay off all its editorial staff and close its news and photo agency operations in March 2027. (STT Info, the press release distribution and newsroom service also used by Mailand, will continue operating.)
The closure of its news operations is a major blow whose significance seems to be sinking in only slowly for most people. “STT failed to keep up with the times” was one of the more superficial comments. Yes, its business model fell behind, but the need for news is not going away. News production is the most important link in the media food chain. Reliable, authentic news, whether produced in-house or purchased, keeps audiences engaged and the entire media ecosystem alive. The question is who or what will fill the gap as domestic news production dwindles.
Many countries face the same mine to defuse
Tectonic shifts in the media landscape have caught national news agencies badly off guard. In less than two decades, technology companies have grabbed the lion’s share of advertising revenue and, increasingly, the value generated by redistributing news. The change happened gradually, and its full scale went unrecognised.
National news agencies like STT exist in almost every European country and across much of the rest of the world. The European Alliance of News Agencies has more than 30 members. They supply news, photographs and other journalistic content to media outlets. STT’s counterparts include Sweden’s TT, Norway’s NTB, Denmark’s Ritzau, Germany’s dpa and France’s AFP.
Their operating models vary, however. Some are owned by media companies, some are private businesses, and others are state-owned or publicly funded.
Global fluff and lively local stories
Marjaana Varmavuosi, President of the Union of Journalists in Finland, told Helsingin Sanomat that convincing decision-makers of the importance of a national news agency is hard work.
The risk is that fewer Finnish-language news stories will be produced for Finnish audiences, and their quality will decline. On 5 November, Suomen Lehdistö reported that the number of journalists working at regional newspapers had halved over 20 years.
Media companies have been developing new business models to secure a fair price for news. For far too long, they relied on the strength of their brands and published news online for free, leaving it at the mercy of social media platforms.
Today, many quality news outlets regularly republish entire articles from The New York Times, Der Spiegel and other sources. They also copy, translate and edit content from the international news flow. Social media will feature news stories assembled entirely by AI in a second, and probably already does.
There are examples of the opposite, too. Small local newspapers and free papers produce original Finnish-language journalism with surprising energy. They cover events in their own villages and neighbourhoods that matter to local residents. Often, a single experienced journalist produces the paper and does almost everything themselves. There is no shortage of advertisers, either.
The end of STT’s news production will hit the media outlets that sit between the global and the local.
News production pays in the other Nordic countries, but Finland’s government has no money to spare
A working group featuring familiar names from academia has been set up to find funding and keep STT operating. Unsurprisingly, it has voiced hopes for a public service organisation. In practice, this would mean an “STT Act” enshrining its operations in law.
That is wishful thinking. No political party can promise STT funding. Everyone knows that the state budget runs a deficit of more than ten billion euros every year. There are more pressing demands on public money.
Other risk-takers are needed, including media and communications entrepreneurs, private equity investors and strategy consultants. A group with a commercial interest and capital to get things started. European news agencies could provide models for profitable operations and growth. TT, NTB and Ritzau, for example, all turn a profit. Could it be time for Nordic cooperation?