A content analysis of media reports on the Indian community in Finland

Abstract

The report analyses the media representation of Indian community resident in Finland. The four major Finnish newspapers were analysed during the period between 2012 and 2015. In comparison with many other European countries with larger migrant communities, the Indian community in Finland is small. Although specific reporting on ethnic communities is limited in the Finnish press, interesting insights on the media representation of the Indian community can be drawn from the data. The research concludes that reports on business relations and Finnish companies' operations in India, mostly concerning Nokia's failures in India, are often portrayed in a negative light. India is considered as a difficult business environment and culturalist explanations dominate over others. At the same time the reporting recognizes the opportunities that India's new rising market can offer to Finnish companies. In turn, residents with Indian origin in Finland are portrayed as hard-working and important part of the economy in Finland. Indian culture understood as art is also seen as an enriching addition to the Finnish culture. However, occasional notions in the Finnish press point to the idea of a 'Finn' as a somewhat closed category : a migrant becomes Finn, or resembles a Finn instead of 'Finnishness' becoming more inclusive. Similarly the press sometimes gives an essentialized representation of gender roles among the Indian community in Finland without giving a voice to the immigrant community that is being essentialized.