“This is a big step for the Sámi society and media in Finland. I’m really proud that we are able to provide five more minutes of the Sámi language on the main news channel,” says Pirita Näkkäläjärvi, Head of Yle Sápmi to BarentsObserver.
Yle Sápmi is the voice of the indigenous people Sámi and the most important Sámi media in Finland. The cooperation with the Pan-Nordic Ođđasat (TV-news) continues as before.
The new nationwide Sámi-language TV news is broadcasted weekdays on Finland’s main news channel Yle TV1. The news has Finnish subtitles. The aim of the news broadcast is to provide better public service to all the Sámi people, who nowadays live around the country. In fact, already 65 percent of the Sámi people in Finland live outside the traditional home region in the north. The main language of the news broadcast is Northern Sámi but the minority Sámi languages Inari and Skolt Sámi are also heard for example in the interviews.
In May this year, Yle Sápmi started to publish web-news in Inari Sámi (or anarâškielâ), a language spoken by only some 400 people living around Lake Inari in Finland’s northeastern corner. Web-news in Skolt Sámi is also new this year.
“The main language of the news broadcast is Northern Sámi but the minority Sámi languages Inari and Skolt Sámi are also heard for example in the interviews. Yle Sápmi is also piloting concepts to gradually increase the amount of Inari and Skolt Sámi in Yle Ođđasat,” says Pirita Näkkäläjärvi.
The first Yle Ođđasat broadcast last week had 120,000 viewers and the trend has continued since.
Pirita Näkkäläjärvi says the news broadcast success shows that there is wide interest in the Sámi culture, people and language among the Finnish people.
“I’m glad that we can add value to the society — one of Yle’s strategic objectives — by bringing the Sámi world view on the media. But the most important thing is that the Sámi people have been excited about the new broadcast. It is heart-warming how good the reception among our own people has been.”
Yle Ođđasat can be viewed around the world on Yle Areena.
