There was a nasty piece of news yesterday that revealed how Alma Media (a major news corporation in Finland) had cancelled the work contract of journalist Johanna Korhonen after finding out that she was living as a family with another woman and two children. It appears that CEO Kai Telanne and his associates believe that one can be an editor-in-chief only if one is living in a heterosexual relationship, and failing to reveal such personal information as one’s sexual orientation in a work interview is close to a criminal act. It is sad and funny that they apparently claimed that because the work would have involved leading Lapin Kansa newspaper, which is located in Rovaniemi, Lapland, it is particularly impossible to consider “this kind of woman” for that position any more — even after being elected as the most competent candidate in the first place. Lapland, the black hole of intolerance, hmm. Great, they managed to insult the Lappish people, too.
There is serious lack of credibility towards Alma Media right now, and I can only hope that they will soon realise that they need to change their executives. Meanwhile, a boycott campaign is growing; I myself cancelled my subscription to Aamulehti (another Alma Media newspaper) starting from today.
More news in Finnish: http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/oikea/id103204.html
A Facebook support group: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=42373236060
A cartoon from Kaleva, by Jari:
frans goes blog 
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