Selecting and Editing of Readers’ Letters in the Late 19th-Century Finnish Press

2023/10/02 by Satu Sorvali · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Media Studies and Communication

paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/13688804.2023.2265406

openalex publication_date 2023/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

This article shows that readers’ letters were selected and edited in late 19th-century Finnish newspapers for a variety of reasons. The criteria for selection and editing fit the four rules identified by professor of journalism Karin Wahl-Jorgensen for the selection of readers’ letters in modern newspapers and it also demonstrates the 1890s newspapers’ role as gatekeepers and the continuing professionalization of journalists. The editors considered the selection and editing of readers’ letters demanding and frustrating, but they also saw themselves as men of principle, the defenders of the free word. The research sources include the correspondence columns and the editors’ writing instructions to the readers in the 1890s press of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

Discussions

• Dear historians interested in media history and also others! You may be interested in my recent article which dives into the late 19th-century Finnish newspapers' editorial gatekeeping and their role [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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