Training programme for young international journalists at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press release 151/2016
22 August 2016
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will organise a thisisFINLAND Foreign Correspondents' Programme Alumni Meeting on 22–28 August 2016. During the week, twelve journalists from different countries will learn about Finland and the Finnish society.
The Foreign Ministry has organised the Foreign Correspondents' Programme for as long as a quarter of a century. The first group of young international journalists arrived in Finland in 1990. A valuable network of journalists consisting of over 400 journalists in 58 countries have thus acquired a profound knowledge of Finland.
The Ministry aims to organise the actual more extensive Foreign Correspondents' Programme for young correspondents every other year. In the intermediate years, an Alumni Meeting will be organised for selected media professionals who have previously participated in the FCP programme. This year, participants to the alumni programme will arrive from the following countries: China, Estonia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Latvia and the United States.
The programme is part of the Foreign Ministry's country image work and a significant investment in future media relations. The aim is to increase the participants' interest in Finland, support positive attitudes towards Finland, and strengthen Finland's profile in the long run.
The participants will be offered an extensive programme focusing of Finnish society, characteristics and know-how. They will also have meetings with Finland's political leadership, including Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen. The University of Helsinki and the City of Helsinki will organise programme of their own on separate days. The programme includes, for example, a weekend hosted by a Finnish family and a visit to Rovaniemi. During the Alumni Meeting week, the participating journalists will contribute articles to their home country media, focusing on Finnish culture, politics, nature, education system and companies.
The programme can be followed in a blog at fcp.finland.fi(Link to another website.) and on Facebook at Foreign Correspondents' Programme in Finland(Link to another website.).
Further information about the programme and possible requests for interview for visiting journalists: Liisa Koivuniemi, [email protected], tel. +358 50 412 7174.
Further information about the Foreign Ministry's country image work: Petra Theman, Director, Unit for Public Diplomacy, tel. +358 295 351 558.
The Foreign Ministry's email addresses are in the format [email protected].