Lehdistön alueelliset valtiaat: Sanomalehdistön kilpailu ja keskittyminen merkityksellisillä markkinoilla

When media policy research and communication policy talk about media concentration, the level of scrutiny is usually national. In economics and competition law, on the other hand, concentration and competition are usually considered only in relation to relevant markets. Since only a few newspapers in Finland spread significantly outside their home province, the concentration of the industry is examined here regionally. Theoretically, the article draws from media economics and research on the industry's geographic structure and competition. Empirically, it complements previous results on the concentration of newspapers in Finland by analyzing the development by province in the years 2010–2020. The variables used are the net sales and circulation of newspapers and their distribution by publisher. Established key figures are used as metrics. The results show that in most provinces of Finland, the leading newspaper has an almost complete monopoly. However, the development of regional concentration has
been uneven during the review period, and dramatic changes have only occurred in a few provinces. Concentration should not be viewed exclusively as a negative
phenomenon, but can also be seen as a way to preserve the diversity of the press.