Multicultural Programming on Finnish Public Service Broadcaster

This study focuses on the current approach of the Finnish Public Service Broadcaster YLE towards multicultural programming. It is based on a case study of a multicultural program Ali and Husu, which ran on YLE’s talk radio channel from the beginning of 2013 until the February of 2015. Ali and Husu was a discussion program which focused on different issues from the perspective of immigrants, and was hosted by two men with immigrant backgrounds: Ali Jahangiri and Abdirahim “Husu” Hussein. The study’s scientific relevance is based on the fact that multicultural programming on European PSBs have gone through many changes during this genres existence. Changing socio-political and economic climates, mainly the alleged ‘fail of multiculturalism’ in combination with the increasing competition against commercial broadcasters and the continuing economic crisis, have made the existence of this genre increasingly controversial and problematized within the EU. Since the late 90’s when YLE began their multiculturalism policy and first multiculturalism program, the company’s policies have also turned increasingly vaguer in this regard. Therefore the main idea of this study was to analyse through Ali and Husu, how is it possible for YLE to make multicultural programming in post-multicultural times? The study was conducted with content analysis on chosen episodes and by doing interviews with the makers of the program. The results showed that Ali and Husu was a multicultural program which relied predominantly on humour in order to discuss controversial topics, and which main objective was to dismantle prejudices that the main population may have towards the new ethnic minorities of Finland. However, it also came apparent that the program was more of an idiosyncratic project of the makers, rather than YLE systematically attempting to implement its obligation to “support tolerance and multiculturalism and provide programming for minority and special groups”. The program arguably represents one side of a twofold approach that YLE currently has towards multicultural programming, the other side demonstrating a reluctance for creating a systematic strategy to represent the ethnic minorities of Finland.