Panu Höglund

Is é an scéala is úire atá sa nuacht agus mise ag scríobh an cholúin seo ná an tAire Leasa Shóisialta Hanna Mäntylä agus amhras fúithi go ndearna sí calaois. Scéal é nár tháinig aniar aduaidh ar aon duine, nó bíonn mionpholaiteoirí de chuid na bhFíor-Fhionlannach – páirtí na dtuathghríosóirí agus na bhfuathghríosóirí – i gcónaí ag tarraingt súil na ndaoine orthu féin lena gcuid coireanna a líomhnaítear. Mar shampla, is féidir scéal duine de na comhairleoirí áitiúla i gcathair Lahti a lua: tháinig chun saoil go raibh sé ina bhall i gclub de chuid na ngluaisrothaithe ”aon faoi chéad”, agus inniu tá sé á chúiseamh i mórchás drugaí. Maidir le Mäntylä, tá sise suite níos airde sa pháirtí ná aon duine eile de na gníomhaithe a raibh amhras coiriúil fúthu roimhe seo.

Níos suimiúla ná an scéal féin ba é an foilseachán ba thúisce a scaoil an scéal faoi Mäntylä ná an iris úd Seitsemän Päivää (Seacht Lá), ar a dtugtar Seiska, nó ‘An Seachtar’, i gcaint na ndaoine, agus a bhfuil clú an ”phreas bhuí” uirthi. Seachtaineán atá inti, mar is léir ón ainm. Ar na saolta seo, dealraíonn sé go bhfuil ”Seiska” ar an t-aon iris amháin sa tír a chleachtas iriseoireacht iniúchach ar na saolta seo, go háirithe más iad cúrsaí na bhFíor-Fhionlannach a bhíos le hiniúchadh.

Is ar éigean a cheapfá go dtiocfadh le blaganna an ceann is fearr a fháil ar nuachtáin mar fhoinsí nuachta, ach ní mar a shíltear a bhítear. Le bliain nó dhó anuas tá rud nua ann atá idir eatarthu idir blag agus iris Idirlín. Bíonn na láithreáin ‘nuachta’ seo ag craobhscaoileadh gach cineál luaidreán, go háirithe faoin lucht inimirce, agus is minic nach bhfuil i gceist ach bréaga loma. Is dócha gur scríobh mé roimhe seo faoin dóigh ar éirigh leis na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh a seantacaíocht a choinneáil in olltoghcháin an Earraigh: d’fhoilsigh ceann de na hirisí seo bréagscéala faoi bhanéigniú a rinne imirceánaigh, agus ansin tháinig na sluaite ag caitheamh vóta i bhfách leis an bpáirtí.

Tá gnáthléitheoirí na mblaganna seo an-dílis don fhoinse nuachta is fearr leo, agus iad suite siúráilte go bhfuil comhcheilg na bpóilíní agus na meán príomhshrutha ag coinneáil na ‘fírinne’ faoi na ‘banéignitheoirí iasachta’ ceilte ó na daoine. Mar sin, tá brú áirithe ar na meáin phríomhshrutha an dream sin a ghiúmaráil ar dhóigh éigin. Ar ndóigh ní féidir leis na meáin sin scéalta loma bréige a chraobhscaoileadh, ach is féidir leo cuma na tuisceanachta a chur orthu féin leis na ciníochaithe.

Is leor sampla amháin a lua. I dtús Mhí na Samhna, tháinig brainse speisialta na bpóilíní Fionlannacha i láthair ar an teilifís ag tabhairt rabhaidh faoi na dreamanna antoisceacha ciníocha a bhí ag bagairt ar shíocháin inmheánach na tíre anois agus na céadta teifigh ag tonnadh isteach de dheasca na géarchéime sa tSiria. Fuair siad riachtanach trácht air sa ráiteas céanna go raibh siad ag coinneáil diansúile ar na teifigh féin, mar ba ghnách, le féachaint chuige nach n-éireodh le gníomhaithe de chuid an Stáit Ioslamaigh téaltú isteach. Nuair a chuaigh an scéala a fhad leis na cinnlínte sna nuachtáin, ní raibh le léamh ach go bhfuil bagairt na sceimhlitheoireachta ag dul i méid de thoradh na dteifeach – gan trácht ceart air go ndúirt na póilíní gurbh iad na ciníochaithe féin ba mhó ba chúis leis an mbagairt sin.

Scríbhneoir Gaeilge ón bhFionlainn é Panu Höglund.

The latest news at moment of writing is that Hanna Mäntylä, Finland’s Minister of Social Security, is being suspected of fraud. This in itself didn’t surprise anyone, because minor politicians of the True Finns party – the party of demagogues and hatemongers – are always attracting attention with their alleged crimes. For instance, a city councillor in Lahti turned out to be a member of a ‘one-percenter’ motorcycle club, and today he is being accused in a case of drug-trafficking. As regards Mäntylä, she is the most senior member of the party to be suspected of a crime.

More interesting than the news item was the publication in which it appeared: it was the weekly appropriately named Seitsemän Päivää (Seven Days), referred to as Seiska – the colloquial word for ‘Seven’ – in everyday lingo. While it is a notorious ‘yellow press’ publication, it seems that it is the only publication in this country today that is not afraid to go in for investigative journalism, especially when True Finns are concerned.

You’d hardly think that blogs could beat newspapers as news outlets, but think again. For a couple of years there are new kinds of news sites which are somewhere between a blog and an online magazine. These ‘news’ sites report every kind of rumours especially about immigrants – often these are lies, pure and simple. I probably wrote earlier how True Finns were able to keep their support from dwindling in the last elections: one of these internet magazines published a complete lie about a supposed rape by immigrants, and people flocked to vote for the party.

The readers of these blogs are very loyal to their preferred outlet, and they are quite convinced that a conspiracy of police and mainstream media is concealing the ‘truth’ about ‘foreign rapists’ from them. Thus there is a certain pressure on the mainstream media to somehow make these people happy. Of course the media cannot reproduce obvious racist lies, but they can at least try to show some understanding to the racists’ worldview.

One example is telltale enough. At the beginning of November, the special branch of the Finnish police made an appearance on TV issuing a warning that racist extremists might be threatening the internal security of the country now that hundreds of refugees were coming in, escaping the crisis in Syria. The police found it necessary to point out in the same statement that they were keeping a keen eye on the refugees themselves, seeing to it that no IS agents would be able to sneak through. When the story made newspaper headlines, you could only read that the threat of terrorism was increasing because of the refugees – not really pointing out that the police had said that that threat was mostly due to the racists.

Panu Höglund is from Finland and writes in Irish.