Yle moved to strengthen its audience interaction on Thursday as Sami Koivisto took on the newly-created role of 'Audience Ombudsman'.
Koivisto has served as a social media journalist since 2015, and before that worked as a journalist at Yle and Ilta-Sanomat. He has become known to audiences as the public face of Yle, moderating discussions on social media and appearing on Yle's morning television show to provide insights into social media.
"Many of the toughest critics have had a slightly unrealistic understanding of what we do at Yle," said Koivisto. "There's been an increase in supportive messages. Of course, they help motivate you in your work."
Increased transparency
Yle's Ombudsman will play a slightly different role to those in other countries. Yle's Head of Media, Ismo Silvo, said the need for an Ombudsman became clear as the company responded to increased demands for transparency.
"We don't have the burden of tradition," said Silvo.
The Ombudsman will operate as support to Yle's editors, Head of Ethics and journalists. Part of his role will be to explain journalistic decisions and processes to the audience.
"I want to make sure that handling feedback is never the job of one person in the newsroom," said Koivisto. "It is good that all Yle employees have an understanding of the views of those who pay our wages."
Koivisto will start in his new role at the beginning of November.
