gone with the wind? newspaper discourse of eutrophication and blue-green algae blooms in finland

Gone with the wind? Newspaper discourse of eutrophicationand blue-green algae blooms in FinlandJari Lyytimäki

Environmental Policy Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland

Keywordsalgal blooms; Baltic Sea; cyanobacteria; mass

media; press coverage; risk communication.

CorrespondenceJari Lyytimäki, Finnish Environment Institute,

Environmental Policy Centre, P.O. Box 140,

FIN-00251 Helsinki, Finland. Email:

[email protected]

doi:10.1111/j.1747-6593.2011.00301.x

Abstract

The mass media shape the public and policy agenda by giving prominence tocertain ecosystem changes and risks, as well as by framing some policy meas-ures as the preferred ones. Based on longitudinal analysis of the leadingFinnish newspaper, this study considers the media coverage of eutrophication.The results show an increase of reporting in the late 1990s as a result ofintertwined ecological and social factors – i.e. intense algal occurrences andestablishment of a national communication system. The news coverage hashighlighted the harmful algal blooms and health risks of algal toxins and hasframed short-term weather conditions as the key factor regulating algal occur-rences. This creates a challenge for environmental management aimed atreduction in the nutrient discharges that influence the state of the environ-ment in the long term.

Introduction: eutrophication as anenvironmental problem in Finland

Disturbances of nutrient cycles have been identified asone of the key global environmental problems (MEA2005). A key symptom of these disturbances is theeutrophication of water bodies. Resilience in the face ofeutrophication and effects of eutrophication vary consid-erably between socio-ecological systems consisting ofintertwined socio-cultural and bio-geo-chemical compo-nents (e.g. Damiani 1992; de Jong 2006; HELCOM 2010;Nicholson et al. 2011). Finland’s inland waters provide anexample of ecologically vulnerable systems. They aretypically small and shallow, and thus susceptible to theeffects of human activities. There are almost 190 000lakes in Finland, of which over 130 000 have an area ofless than one hectare (Raatikainen & Kuusisto 1990;Fig. 1). In the wintertime, the lakes are covered by ice,which increases the risk of oxygen depletion, especiallyin eutrophicated lakes. The semi-enclosed, shallow andcold, brackish Baltic Sea, which surrounds Finland’ssouth and west, is also considered to be ecologicallyhighly vulnerable (HELCOM 2010). It is affected by agri-culture, industry, traffic and about 85 million peopleliving in its drainage area.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea was recognised as alarge-scale environmental problem in the late 1970s

(Elmgren 2001), but local-level debate related to coastalpollution emerged much earlier. Already a century ago,newspapers published complaints of the odours andunpleasant look of water bodies near Finnish towns(Laakkonen et al. 1999). For example, based on localnewspaper coverage in the coastal town of Turku,Lahtinen (2005) maintains that already in the late 19thand early 20th century, ordinary newspaper-readingurban dwellers were well aware of local environmentalproblems.

The need for water protection was acknowledged, andthe first water treatment plants were installed in Finnishtowns already in 1910 (Laakkonen et al. 1999). However,civil war, economic depression in the 1930s and, espe-cially, World War II halted the progress of environmentalprotection for a long time (Laurila & Laakkonen 2007).Major progress began with the 1962 Water Act, but statu-tory requirements for environmental measures werelargely ineffective, and in most cases, the water qualitycontinued to deteriorate. The voices critical of industry-causing water pollution strengthened in the 1960s and1970s (e.g. Aho 1968). However, poor-quality water wasoften tolerated as an unwanted but inevitable side effectof economic progress (Massa 1994). In recent decades,discharges from industry and other point sources havedecreased considerably (Wahlström et al. 1996; Putkuriet al. 2009).

Water and Environment Journal. Print ISSN 1747-6585

Water and Environment Journal •• (2011) ••–•• © 2011 The Author. Water and Environment Journal © 2011 CIWEM. 1

Agriculture in Finland has been based on small-scalefamily farms and largely considered a traditional and‘natural’ sector of society, contrasted with industrycausing environmental problems (Wahlström et al. 1996).However, increased nutrient discharges due to the inten-sification of agriculture since the 1960s, together with thedecrease in point-source discharges, have graduallychanged the interpretations. From the late 1980sonward, agriculture has been identified as the mostimportant source of polluting nutrients, and after Finnishaccession to the European Union (EU) in 1995, EU agri-environmental subsidies have strongly shaped the debate(Jokinen 2000).

Harmful effects of forestry, peat production and aqua-culture on water quality have raised local controversyand media debate. The debate over the effects of aquac-ulture has been extensively studied in the ArchipelagoSea, in Southwest Finland (Peuhkuri 2004). The publicdebate peaked in the mid-1990s, as a result of increasedalgal blooms in the Baltic, the expansion of aquaculture,

the increased experiences of nuisances by summer resi-dents, research results concerning the state of the BalticSea, and individual expressions of concern by key stake-holders (Peuhkuri 2004). The harmful effects and risksrelated to some blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) speciesare a key feature of the eutrophication debate (Lawton &Codd 1991; Lyytimäki 2007). The harmful effects aremainly related to the aesthetic nuisances and healtheffects such as skin irritation (dermatitis) and risks ofpoisoning by algal toxins (WHO 2003).

One key socio-economic development influencing thedebate over eutrophication in Finland has been theincrease in the number of summer residences. Almost500 000 summer cottages or other buildings are used asfree-time residences in Finland, and nearly 80% of theseare located within 200 metres of water bodies (Rehunen2008). Furthermore, most Finnish cities and towns areon the seashore or near lakes or rivers. Therefore, Finnshave abundant opportunities to detect changes in waterquality, especially during their leisure time (Jokinen2002; Peuhkuri 2004; Lyytimäki 2006).

According to the Eurobarometer survey, water pollu-tion is second on the list of the most worrying environ-mental problems both in Finland and in other EUmember states. The most worrying environmentalproblem is climate change. In Finland, concern over bothof these issues is higher than the EU average. More thanhalf (56%) of Finns listed water pollution among the fiveenvironmental issues about which they are mostworried, which was clearly higher than the EU27 averageof 42% (Eurobarometer 2008). Recently, the main topicsof Finnish debate concerning eutrophication have beenrelated to agriculture, nitrogen removal in urban waste-water treatment and the treatment of wastewater insparser settlements (Pihlajamäki & Tynkkynen 2011).

Most earlier studies of public discourse on water pol-lution and eutrophication in Finland have been local-level case studies (e.g. Bruun 1998; Suomalainen 2000;Korjonen-Kuusipuro et al. 2004; Peuhkuri 2004). Somehave compared the coverage of eutrophication acrossseveral newspapers, focusing on short time periods.Välimäki (2000) studied the coverage in 20 national andregional newspapers in 1998, and a follow-up study byLyytimäki (2006, 2007) covered additional data from 26newspapers in July 2005. Only one study of long-termnational-level newspaper coverage exists, focusing onwater pollution and the algal situation (Leivonen 1999).

Only a few studies focusing on media coverage ofeutrophication can be found in the international litera-ture. Jönsson (2011) presents an analysis of media rep-resentations of environmental risks related to the BalticSea. The analysis is based on the data from the Swedishbroadsheet newspaper Dagens Nyheter from 1992 to 2009.

Russia

SwedenFinland

Norway

Estonia©ESRI ©Maanmittauslaitos lupa nro 7/MML/11

0 10050 Km

HELSINKI

Fig. 1. Finnish water areas and the northern Baltic Sea. Note: Finnish

territorial waters in the Baltic Sea are highlighted. Only the largest fresh-

water areas are visible on the map.

Newspaper discourse of eutrophication and blue-green algae blooms J. Lyytimäki

2 Water and Environment Journal •• (2011) ••–•• © 2011 The Author. Water and Environment Journal © 2011 CIWEM.

According to the results, the Baltic Sea was more visiblein the news in the 1990s than in the 2000s. This ispartially explained by political initiatives concerning theBaltic Sea environment, such as the HELCOM conven-tion (1992) and the Baltic 21 initiative (1996). The BalticSea was commonly framed as an area suffering fromenvironmental problems because generally between 25and 35% of the news articles concerning the Baltic Seaaddressed environmental issues in some way. Althoughmany newspaper articles acknowledged several environ-mental risks, eutrophication received the most attentionand was considered to be the biggest threat. Eutrophica-tion was not framed in terms of uncertainty concerningthe risk and consequences but rather in terms of maincauses. Agriculture and its use of phosphorus and nitro-gen were presented as the main cause of the harmfulchanges, and political restrictions on agriculture werepresented as a key solution (Jönsson 2011).

Design of the study

The overall aim of this paper is to chart the evolution ofnews coverage of eutrophication in Finland and todiscuss the role of information provided by environmen-tal authorities. More specifically, the analysis aims tobuild a complete picture of the press coverage, identifycritical moments of public discourse (Gamson 1992; Car-valho & Burgess 2005) that represent changes betweenphases of environmental debate and possibly indicatechanges in related policies or practices. Public discourse isone key factor influencing the management of environ-mental problems (Hannigan 2006). An important part ofpublic discourse is the mass media, shaping the publicand policy agenda by giving prominence to some ecologi-cal changes, human impacts and risks, as well as framingsome policy measures as more suitable than others (Cox2010). Some level of public attention is needed in orderan environmental issue to become socially relevant (Han-nigan 2006). Public attention is especially important toinitiate and implement policies aimed at solving large-scale environmental problems with no easily imple-mented technological fixes. However, scientists anddecision makers must be alert to the fact that mediaattention may lead to misunderstanding and the exag-geration of risks by the people or decision makers, or itmay overshadow other relevant issues or risks (Lyytimäkiet al. 2011).

The focus of this paper is on the role of informationprovided by the environmental authorities and researchorganisations. More generally, the focus is on how thecommunication influences the agenda and framingsadopted by the news media (Mazur & Lee 1993; Pralle2009; Lakoff 2010; Jönsson 2011). The discussion is

based on the agenda-setting model, suggesting that themedia may be influential in determining social prioritiesbut have less influence on decision of what to do aboutthem (Cohen 1963). The agenda-setting model does notassume a direct and linear correlation between mediacoverage of a specific environmental problem, publicopinion and a policy action. Instead, it maintains that, bygiving prominence to certain issues and framings, massmedia agendas will influence public and policy agendas.Policy and public agendas can also influence the media’sagenda. High media visibility may be generated by alarm-ing monitoring results or scientific discoveries, increasedactivity from news sources such as the authorities ornongovernmental organisations, the planning or imple-mentation of controversial policies related to an environ-mental problem or a relative lack of other news issues.Events such as massive algal blooms may push an issuesuch as eutrophication to the forefront of the media,public and policy agendas.

Framing denotes the process whereby some aspects ofa perceived reality are selected and made more salient ina communication in such a way that a particular problemdefinition or treatment recommendation becomes pre-ferred (Entman 1993; Lakoff 2010). Media framing ofenvironmental issues and risks influence what kind ofpolicy options and measures are considered feasible, butthe level of media influence varies across topics andpoints in time. The concept of framing departs signifi-cantly from the assumptions of the agenda-setting model,in that it proceeds from the assumption that how an issueis characterised in news reports can have an influence onhow it is understood by audiences (Scheufele & Tewks-bury 2007). However, viewing these concepts as comple-mentary provides a fruitful approach for discussing therole of science-based information in public debate andalso for identifying ways of achieving a media agendafavourable for solutions to environmental problems thatare both effective and widely shared.

The focus of this study is on the long-term develop-ment of news coverage of eutrophication. The data arefrom one newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat (HS). ChoosingHS is justified because this is the most influential news-paper and holds a key position in the Finnish mediamarket (Herkman 2010). Despite the increasing use ofelectronic media, printed newspapers continue to bewidely read in Finland. Currently, 71% of the populationread newspapers on a daily basis (Statistics Finland2011). HS is based in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, whichis on the southern coast, but it provides national cover-age. HS can be characterised as a broadsheet or ‘prestige’newspaper. Its circulation has slightly declined in recentyears, but it still stands at almost 400 000 copies daily andabout one million readers – i.e. almost a fifth of the entire

J. Lyytimäki Newspaper discourse of eutrophication and blue-green algae blooms


population (Finnish Audit Bureau of Circulations, 2010).Furthermore, the Web site of the newspaper is one of themost popular in Finland.

The data on news coverage were collected from HS’sonline database (http://www.hs.fi/arkisto/). The archiveof HS provides the most comprehensive electronic full-text time series available in Finland. It contains newsmaterial published by the newspaper from 1990 onward,providing the titles and text of the printed news materialand opinion pieces. Initial searches were performed withseveral search terms to find the most suitable searchstring. The final search strings included the terms‘eutrophication’ (including the verb ‘eutrophicate’(rehevöityä) and the noun ‘eutrophication’ (rehevöitym-inen), as well as ‘blue-green algae’ (sinilevä). Other searchstrings tested either produced too narrow a sample oryielded several irrelevant hits. In comparison with othermajor environmental issues, such as climate change, it isdifficult to define eutrophication with only a few key-words (Lyytimäki & Tapio 2009; Jönsson 2011). Itproved especially difficult to differentiate between waterpollution caused by nutrients and by other chemicalpollutants.

All results were individually checked for their accu-racy, and duplicates were removed. News itemsdescribing specifically the eutrophication of terrestrialecosystems were excluded. These included, for example,several news stories about gardening. Information aboutthe section of the paper was missing for 90 hits, of whichthis information could be deduced for 44 on the basis ofthe contents. The final data included 2162 news items.

Based on the titles, a coding scheme was developed forestimating whether the main focus of the news item wason eutrophication, on some other environmental issue,or on other issues. The coding was based on the explicitformulations of the titles. Headlines clearly addressingeutrophication were coded for the first class. News itemspointing to other environmental problems were coded asenvironmental news. The third class covered other thanenvironmental issues as well as headlines with an uncleartopic. This coding was open to subjective judgement.Intercoder reliability was checked by means of Cohen’skappa. The test was based on a sample of 90 news itemscoded by two individuals, and it showed excellent agree-ment between coders (k = 0.832).

The coding scheme remained general because thepurpose was to generate an overall picture capturing thedevelopment of the news over time. The relatively highnumber of news items rendered it infeasible to apply adetailed and time-consuming content analysis schemeconcentrating on the full content of the news items(Krippendorff 2004). Furthermore, the search engine didnot allow searches focusing on only titles or lead para-

graphs. It should be noted that in some cases, the head-line does not correspond well with the content andemphasis of the article. However, even in these cases, thetitles are relevant because they attract people to read thearticle, to frame the issue and to guide the interpretation.

The coverage of climate change and eutrophication isexamined by month. This allows analysis of short-termfluctuations of the news coverage, including the identi-fication of periods of intense debate – possible criticaldiscourse moments (Gamson 1992). While the analysisgenerally focuses on the news items’ titles, examplesfrom these periods were picked for more detailedanalysis.

Results

In 1990–2010, in total, 2162 news items mentioningeutrophication or blue-green algae appeared. The cover-age included both long feature stories and short newsitems describing the current algal situation. Pictures ofalgae and maps illustrating the current algal situation atthe national level are common in news on eutrophication(Lyytimäki 2006, 2007), but they are not included in theHS database. The coverage of eutrophication was rela-tively stable during the first half of the 1990s, except forthe peak in July and August 1990 related mainly to newsabout blue-green algae (Fig. 2). New research results sug-gesting potential health hazards related to the toxins pro-duced by some species of cyanobacteria increased publicinterest in the subject. Finnish researchers initiatedstudies of the matter in the 1980s, with the first resultspublished in the early 1990s (Sivonen 2004). Since then,risks related to toxins produced by cyanobacteria specieshave been brought up frequently in news coveragedescribing the algal situation. A Finnish specialty, indi-cating the cultural importance of water quality, is awarning against the use of water that may contain algaltoxins on sauna stoves.

The number of news items mentioning eutrophicationwas relatively stable by year, but that of news itemsmentioning blue-green algae showed a rapid increasefrom 16 to 80 in 1997. During the summer of 1997,massive algal occurrences developed in the Gulf ofFinland. These were highlighted by the front-page news(11 July 1997) entitled ‘Green algal mats swim at theGulf of Finland’. Local news pages maintained that thealgal situation was worse than over a decade. The occur-rences of blue-green algae were intense also in inlandwaters, although the main focus of the news published byHS was on the algal situation on seashores near theHelsinki metropolitan area.

Coverage has clustered in summertime, especiallysince 1997. The overall monthly average number of



eutrophication stories was 8.6, less than half the monthlyaverage for July to August (20.5). The share of eutrophi-cation stories to be published in July to August reached63.6% of the year’s coverage in 1997. During other yearsin the sample, July to August’s coverage out of the year’stotal coverage varied between 23.9 and 50.5%. Otherstudies too have indicated concentration of eutrophica-tion news in summertime (Bruun 1998; Leivonen 1999;Peuhkuri 2004; Lyytimäki 2006). The high share of sum-mertime eutrophication news is not explained by the lowabsolute amount of news. The average monthly numberof all news items published by HS during July to Augustwas 6958, while the overall monthly average was 6972.

The concentration in summer can be explained by fourkey factors. First, the ecological changes caused byeutrophication are easily observed in summertime, asoccurrences of blue-green algae in Finland are usuallymost abundant in July to August (Lepistö 1999). Second,July is the main holiday season for Finns; many Finnsspend this leisure time at summer residences near bodiesof water (Jokinen 2002; Rehunen 2008). This createsinterest in news about the water environment. Third,because July is a common holiday period in Finland,there is relatively short supply of other domestic news.Therefore, it is probable that occurrences of algae gainadditional media visibility. Finally, since 1998, there hasbeen an increased supply of material for the press pro-vided by the national algae monitoring and communica-tion system (Lyytimäki 2006). Most of this material ispublished in the summer months. This increased supplyof information largely explains why the highest full-yeartotal number of eutrophication stories (170) was foundfrom 1998.

Massive algal occurrences largely explain the highlevel of coverage in summer 2002. As the domestic pages’news (5 September 2002) summarised, in 2002, the algalsituation was the worst since 1997. The level of newscoverage was relatively high also in the summer of 2003,partly because the unexpectedly hot summer inducedexpectations of algal occurrences. However, algal occur-rences remained moderate. The situation resembled thatof summer 1998. At the start of the summer the massivealgal blooms of the preceding summer were well remem-bered by the journalists and the public and the newsanticipated intense algal occurrences.

The news drew a strong connection between algaloccurrences and sunny and warm weather, while thelong-term nutrient discharges received only limited titlespace. Typical headlines reported that warm weather hadincreased the amount of blue-green algae or presentedthe sunny weather as a risk factor increasing the likeli-hood of algal occurrences. An example of the former is afront-page piece stating ‘Heat wave drastically increasedthe amount of blue-green algae’ (16 July 2003), and anexample of the latter is domestic news positing that‘Sunny weather may increase blue-green algae in theGulf of Finland’ (4 September 1998). At a more generallevel, summertime was connected with algal nuisances,as lamented by the local news in 1998: ‘Blue-green algaewill re-emerge as a summertime nuisance’ (27 May1998), or domestic news 10 years later: ‘Summer willbring moderate amounts of blue-green algae’ (3 June2008). Interestingly, despite the fact that the warmweather was commonly featured, the news only rarelyconnected algal blooms and eutrophication with climatechange.

Initiation of national communication

system, moderate algal blooms

Hot summer,

intensive algal

blooms

News items /

monthHot summer,

intensive algal

blooms

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Hot summer, moderate

algal blooms

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sea areas

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Fig. 2. News items mentioning eutrophica-

tion or blue-green algae in H elsingin S anomat

(HS), 1990–2010.



Windless weather was also presented as a risk factor foralgal blooms: ‘Blue-green algae problem can evolve inthe sea when the weather calms’ (10 August 1998). Thecombination of sunny and windless weather was pre-sented as especially risky, as exemplified by news statingthat ‘Calm and warm weather lifted algal mats to thesurface’ (1 May 1998). In contrast, cold, windy weatherwas presented as the primary reason for lack of algalnuisances. Typical headlines stated that ‘Unstableweather has forestalled the formation of algal mats’ (5July 2002) or ‘Wind has dissolved the biggest algal mats’(20 July 2002).

However, hot and calm weather is not on its ownsufficient to induce massive algal blooms (Lepistö 1999).The summer of 2010 saw record-breaking heat inFinland, but the algal situation in sea areas remainedaverage, and the situation in inland waters remainedbetter than average. Although local news warned at thestart of the summer that ‘Risk of blue-green algae isconsiderable this summer’ (6 June 2010) and laterassured that ‘Hot weather increases the amount of blue-green algae in surface waters’ (12 July 2010), the yearcould eventually be summed up (on 23 October 2010)with a positive conclusion: ‘Water remained clean forswimmers in Helsinki last summer’.

Eutrophication was framed as a domestic issue: twothirds of the news items were published on the domesticpages (41.0%) or local news pages (24.9%) (Fig. 3). Both

local and domestic news saw a rapid increase in 1996–1998. Local-level news reached its peak (59 news items)in 1998, after which coverage declined. The amount ofcoverage on domestic news pages remained high andreached a peak in 2002 (76 news items). Foreign newspages addressed eutrophication only rarely (1.2% of alleutrophication news). This was largely because the stateof the Baltic Sea was addressed as local or national news.For example, the Russian city of St. Petersburg – thegreatest point source of nutrients in the Baltic Sea(HELCOM 2010) – at the eastern tip of the Gulf ofFinland was mentioned in 20 headlines, but none ofthese items was in the foreign news section.

The number of news items published on the natureand science pages (5.6% of all eutrophication stories)remained relatively constant (3–10 news items annu-ally). Letters to the Editor received a share of 8.3%, andthe annual number of opinion pieces fluctuated betweenone and 21. The most intense debate occurred in 2007–2008, partly related to an implementation of regulationson the degree of purification of wastewater in sparsesettlements that was criticised as unjustified, expensiveand unnecessary. Importantly, the debate over dispersedsettlements shifted attention away from agriculture,which remains the biggest anthropogenic source of nutri-ents (Putkuri et al. 2009).

The highest number (10) of front-page news itemscame from 1997. Most of these items were related tointense blooms of blue-green algae. Seven pieces of front-page news related to eutrophication were published in2002 and in 2008. In 2002, the algal situation of theshores of the Gulf of Finland and especially the swim-ming beaches of Helsinki dominated the front-page news.In 2008, the majority of the relevant front-page newsdealt with the Baltic Sea. Topics included algae forecastsfor the coming summer, the current ecological state andfuture of the sea, an opinion poll about the state of theBaltic Sea, and policy measures related to emission levels.

News item titles indicate that proportions of newsfocusing on eutrophication, other environmental issuesand nonenvironmental issues have remained relativelystable (Fig. 4). Eutrophication was relatively rarely con-nected to nonenvironmental issues, with less than a fifth(18.4%) of all hits mentioning eutrophication or blue-green algae focusing mainly on other than environmen-tal issues (cf. Lyytimäki & Tapio 2009). Eutrophicationwas the specific topic of 39.9% of the news, while 41.7%of the sample focused on some other environmental issueor discussed eutrophication under general notions of thestate of the water, emissions to water, water pollution oran equivalent. In fact, 1997 was the only year when overhalf (55.0%) of the news items mentioning eutrophica-tion or blue-green algae actually concentrated on

Economy

Culture

Foreign news

Sunday pages

TV and radio

Unknown or other

Lifestyle

News front page

Editorial

Letters to the Editor

Nature, science

Local news

Domestic news

0 1 2 3 4

News items / month

1997−2010

1990−1996

Fig. 3. Coverage of news on eutrophication or blue-green algae by news-

paper section in HS, 1990–2010. Note: Local news includes the sections

‘name of the day’, ‘news from Helsinki’, and ‘where to go’, while lifestyle

includes ‘price and quality’, ‘leisure’, ‘life and health’, ‘housing, home and

style’, ‘travelling’, ‘food and drink’, car pages, and sports pages.



eutrophication. The largest proportion (65.1%) of newsto focus on other environmental issues was from 1993.

Discussion: the influence of thenational communication network

Summer 1997 represented a critical discourse momentfor the Finnish debate on eutrophication. The key factortriggering the increased coverage was that summer’sintense algal occurrences, but several long-term back-ground factors can be identified, including gradualchanges in the state of the water environment (Putkuriet al. 2009), people’s increased environmental awareness(Eurobarometer 2008) and the longer amounts of timespent at summer residences (Jokinen 2002). Further-more, the decreasing economic importance of agricultureand those industries that are the key nutrient sources hasallowed more open critique (Massa 1994; Wahlströmet al. 1996).

Instead of demands for more effective measures toreduce nutrient load to water, much of the public critiqueduring the summer of 1997 was directed towards a lackof timely information about the algal situation. Theexceptionally massive algal blooms and resulting exten-sive news coverage created a felt need for detailed andtimely public information about the algal situation andthe risks related to swimming, fishing and other uses ofwater. For example, the research director of the FinnishEnvironment Institute was critically questioned aboutthe lack of timely local-level information on the algalsituation (25 July 1997). The news suspected that theauthorities were incapable of adequate dissemination ofthe information available from databases. Regarding thealgal situation in the sea areas, the press officers from the

Finnish Marine Institute responded with a Letter to theEditor (30 July 1997) maintaining that all possible effortswere made as information was collected from varioussources, synthesised and provided via a special Internetsite. However, this information described mainly theopen sea areas, and the authorities were not fully awareof the algal situation in specific coastal areas.

Partly because of the public concern and critique, aneed for additional communication was recognised bythe authorities, and the national algal monitoring andcommunication system was established in 1998 (Lepistöet al. 1998). The system, still in operation, has been thekey provider of information, and it has strongly contrib-uted to the public agenda of eutrophication highlightingalgal occurrences and risks related to blue-green algae. Itis based on collaboration of national, regional and localauthorities; national research organisations and indi-vidual citizens voluntarily participating in informationcollection. National-level press releases on algal situa-tions in inland waters and sea areas have been publishedweekly from early June to mid-September. Furthermore,regional environmental authorities have publishedregion-level press releases. Other information has beensupplied via media interviews, brochures, reports, booksand telephone ‘hotlines’. The importance of Web pageshas increased. A Web portal concentrating on the BalticSea (http://www.itameriportaali.fi/) was established in2002. It is currently hosted by the Finnish EnvironmentInstitute. The information on the algal situation in inlandwaters has been delivered through environmentaladministration Web pages (http://www.ymparisto.fi/levatilanne) and will be available from summer 2011through a participatory wiki-based platform (http://www.jarviwiki.fi/).

100%

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Fig. 4. Coverage of news on eutrophication

or blue-green algae by main topic in HS, 1990–

2010.



The need for a national communication system wasraised fairly early, in 1990, when HS published an inter-view of a researcher who requested that authoritiesinform people about the algal situation just as allergysufferers are warned of high pollen concentrations (5November 1990). However, establishment of the com-munication system was delayed until the exceptionallyintense algal occurrences of the summer of 1997. Thisindicates an inability to create management structuresand to implement environmental management meas-ures before the critical thresholds of harmful changesare passed (Lyytimäki & Hildén 2011). The processesleading to the crossing of ecological thresholds relatedto eutrophication typically occur over timescales ofdecades or even longer (Duarte et al. 2009). Abundantnews coverage highlighting rapidly occurring changes islikely to frame the long-term ecological changes as lessrelevant. Even more importantly, the social, technologi-cal, cultural and economic driving forces of environ-mental changes are likely to receive little attention inthe public agenda, emphasising current state of theenvironment.

After the communication system was established,another researcher offered the criticism that providingabundant information on algal occurrences may create asense of hopelessness and inaction and may shift atten-tion and resources away from remedial activities (4August 2002). News stories focusing on algal occurrenceshave framed eutrophication as a matter of algal nuisanceregulated primarily by weather conditions. This framingfocusing on the short-term dynamics of algal blooms alsoshifts attention from long-term anthropogenic processesrelated to nutrient emissions (Lyytimäki 2007). Addition-ally, focus on blue-green algae may create unnecessaryworries about health hazards, economic losses and otherdisadvantages, as the press can exaggerate the risksrelated to algal occurrences (Becheri 1991; Jönsson2011). For example, media attention to algal blooms inthe North Sea in 1988 created a popular impression thatall algal blooms are noxious (de Jong 2006, 158). Asimilar public impression has been generated by theFinnish press highlighting the presence of blue-greenalgae.

The national algal monitoring and communicationsystem has provided easy-to-use material for journalists.Sustained news coverage can be seen as a prerequisite foraddressing slowly developing environmental risks(Wilkins & Patterson 1990; Hannigan 2006). Hence, thecommunication system can be considered successfulbecause it has helped to keep eutrophication on themedia agenda also during summers with low algal occur-rences. Through this publicity, political pressure forfinding and implementing measures that affect the

driving forces behind the blooms may be strengthened.However, the framings emphasising the short-term algalsituation may direct the attention away from long-termprocesses.

Conclusions

(1) Prior to 1997, the Finnish press coverage of eutrophi-cation was relatively meagre and dominated by variousnews items describing eutrophication, algal blooms,water pollution and the state of the water environment.The absolute number and proportion of news itemsfocusing on the algal situation increased in the summerof 1997, mainly due to the intense algal occurrences.Since 1998, a national algal monitoring and communica-tion system has provided a steady flow of easy-to-usesource material for the media.(2) The media agenda and framings are an importantelement of environmental policies. Specifically, criticaldiscourse moments illustrate how issues are debated andhow policies formulated are changed. The Finnish caseshows that active communication by the authorities canstrongly shape the media contents, especially if theauthorities are able to continuously provide the mediawith timely information. However, there is no direct linkbetween media coverage of eutrophication, publicconcern and policy action. The effects of communicationare highly context sensitive, and the formulation ofpublic perceptions, attitudes and action are also influ-enced by factors other than the media.(3) Finnish news reports have framed weather condi-tions as the main factor regulating algal occurrences. Thisframing is in part due to the material provided by thenational algal monitoring and communication system.Authorities’ and scientists’ communication activitiesshould be continued but refocused to encourage thepublic agenda and news framings to address eutrophica-tion as a long-term process potentially characterised bynonlinear changes and ecological thresholds.(4) Future research should take into account the rapiddevelopment of communication and information tech-nologies, including the Internet, social media and mobilemedia that may be connected to novel real-time moni-toring applications of water quality. Comparisonsbetween the media treatment of different environmentalissues are needed to identify ways to simultaneouslytackle environmental problems such as eutrophicationand climate change. Cross-national comparisons arerequired to identify key similarities and differencesbetween different socio-ecological systems. Interdiscipli-nary research, combining media content analysis withnatural science research, policy sciences and cognitiveand social psychology research approaches are needed to



address the actual impacts of different framings andmedia agendas.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank three anonymous referees forinsightful comments and Ville Helminen for preparingFig. 1.

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gone with the wind? newspaper discourse of eutrophication and blue-green algae blooms in finland

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