Finland's largest newspaper welcomes Trump and Putin to 'the land of free press'

(Image credit: ALEKSI TUOMOLA/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 July 2018

As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin make their way around Helsinki for Monday's summit, they will be met with some 300 billboards promoting press freedom.

The ad campaign is run by Finland's largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat. Its aim, explained editor-in-chief Kaius Niemi, is to make a "statement on behalf of critical and high quality journalism."

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Trump has labeled the media the "enemy of the American people" and decries unfavorable reports as "fake news" regardless of accuracy. Putin's Russia is marked by "draconian laws and website-blocking" targeting independent media, notes watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF): "At least five journalists are currently detained in connection with their reporting — an unprecedented number — and more and more bloggers are being jailed."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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