Nordic Media Welfare State and the "Finnish Model": National distinctions or a gradual deviation from the norm?

From a historical perspective, Finland has undoubtedly been one of the media welfare states in the Nordic region. But when you take a closer look at the media and communication policy decisions made in Finland and in other Nordic countries about developing communication infrastructures, media delivery and universal access during the last 25 years, identifying a joint Nordic media welfare state model turns out to be rather difficult. In most cases, Finland has ended up with different solutions than its Nordic neighbors. Although there is variation because of national contexts, Finland has also deviated from the media welfare state model.

There are at least three main factors behind this development. Perhaps the most fundamental one is the special geopolitical position of Finland and certain distinctions in policymaking and economics related to that. The second was the more rapid and extensive transition from the welfare state model towards competition state model since the 1990s when compared to other Nordic countries. The third factor has been an exceptional dependency of the Finnish economy on a single large mobile technology corporation. Together these factors have made Finland to emphasize the welfare of the state and its international competitiveness instead of the welfare of citizens.