Authors

• Reunanen, Esa (University of Tampere. Department of Journalism and Mass Communication)
• Kunelius, Risto (University of Tampere. Department of Journalism and Mass Communication)
• Noppari, Elina (University of Tampere. Department of Journalism and Mass Communication)

Keywords

collective agreements, collective bargaining, labour disputes, mass media, mass media coverage, political power, wages, wages policy

Abstract

The data consist of 23 face-to-face interviews studying the thoughts of Finnish elite power brokers on the media and its influence on their work. The example case in these interviews was the labour conflict and wages debate of Finnish nurses during 2006-2007. Before parliamentary elections, a major political party had promised nurses a 24% pay raise. A lively media debate followed when the main trade union of nurses demanded the promised wage increase, announcing a mass resignation of nurses unless the demand was met. The parliament passed an emergency bill which would enable employers to order healthcare personnel to remain at jobs considered essential for patient safety. The interviews covered what kind of impact the media publicity had had on the negotiations and decision-making regarding issue, who had real power to influence the issue, the relationship between the media and the interviewees' organisation, and how the organisation used and kept contact with the media. Views were also probed on the power of the media and mediatization. The interviewees were representatives of the stakeholder employer organisations and trade unions, political parties and public authorities.

The interviews were part of the research project "Media as a holder and a vehicle of power" conducted by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Tampere. For other datasets originating from the project, see FSD2576, FSD2577 and FSD2504.

The dataset is only available in Finnish.