Finland's Finance Minister, Riikka Purra (Finns), has criticised the media for its treatment of the Finns Party, as part of a broad response to a summer of scandals around the new governing coalition's approach to racism.
The Finns Party has not taken kindly to this coverage, and Purra's comments at the party conference were part of a pattern of snapbacks from Finns Party figures.
Helsingin Sanomat decided to ask Communications Minister Lulu Ranne (Finns) — whose brief includes mass media — what she thought of the attacks on coverage by the free press.
She said that the media had gone "too far".
"[They should] focus on how us ministers are taking care of our tasks now that we have sworn our oaths of office," said Ranne.
She said that the Finns Party ministers now holding power were impressive and capable, and yet were insufficiently praised by journalists.
"Have you ever seen some rhapsodic song somewhere about our representatives?" asked Ranne. "No, there's just this sad mourning hymn that they are telling."
Yle News' weekly podcast All Points North delved deeper into Riikka Purra's criticism of the media and the possible consequences. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, Apple or via Spotify.
Bike theft rare
Finland's system of tax breaks for bicycle purchases has taken off in recent years, with some 40,000 purchased already. The scheme gives a discount if a worker first leases the bike and pays a monthly fee deducted from their pre-tax salary.
Employers can, but don't have to, contribute to the cost as well. At the end of the lease period workers can pay off the balance due on the bike, and it's theirs.
This leads to more expensive bikes getting purchased, but according to Kauppalehti the risk of having your bike stolen remains small.
The business daily suggests that just 0.18 percent of the bikes bought through one of the scheme participants were stolen in May, June and July.
They claim that the average cyclist can expect to have their bike stolen only once every 100 years in Finland.
Rye bread return?
Ilta-Sanomat has a story on a rye bread lover named Tapio from Espoo who misses a discontinued product known for its especially hard edges and difficult-to-slice shape.
"Does everything have to be ready-sliced, soft to the bite?" asks Tapio. "Can't you get proper rye bread any more anywhere?"
The round rye loaves produced by Fazer under the Oululainen brand were always at the harder end of the rye bread spectrum, and indeed were advertised under the slogan "hard—like life". The circular hole in the middle is for easy storage, with the loaves traditionally placed onto a pole in the kitchen,
A television advert for the bread depicted a child struggling to slice a loaf. He looks at a man we assume is his father, hoping for help, but the adult says "are you hungry or not?" and leaves him to continue hacking away.
Production of this particularly Finnish product ended in 2020, with an organic version available in some stores until 2022. Now it's not to be found anywhere, and the company says that's a response to changing tastes.
"Slicing hard bread with a knife has been felt to be impractical," said Fazer communications director Tarja Kuusela. "A lot of cheeses are also ready-sliced these days."
"Bread is produced according to the customers' wishes. That's why the round loaves are nowhere to be found any more. It's a form of bread that hasn't experienced a renaissance, at least not yet."
Tapio says he hopes that might yet happen, and is aiming to start an online campaign to that end.