Hufvudstadsbladet

Summary

Hufvudstadsbladet (abbr. HBL) is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland.[2] The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Journal of the Capital",[3] hufvudstad (modern spelling huvudstad) being the 19th-century Swedish spelling for capital. The newspaper is informally also called Husis or Höblan.

Hufvudstadsbladet
Hufvudstadsbladet front page, 10 June 2011
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatCompact
Owner(s)Föreningen Konstsamfundet Association
PublisherKSF Media
EditorKalle Silfverberg (since 2023)[1]
Founded1864; 160 years ago (1864)
LanguageSwedish
HeadquartersHelsinki
Circulation36,719 (2014)
Websitewww.hbl.fi

History and profile edit

Hufvudstadsbladet was founded by in 1864,[4][5] and the first edition was published on 5 December the same year. The founder was August Schauman.[6] During the late 19th century, the paper was the highest-circulation newspaper in Finland.

In 1920 the company Hufvudstadsbladets Förlag och Tryckeri AB was founded to operate the newspaper. The company's principal owner and chief executive officer was Amos Anderson, who would also serve as editor-in-chief of the newspaper between 1922 and 1936. Konstsamfundet (approx. The Art Foundation), founded by Andersson in 1940, took over ownership of Hufvudstadsbladet in 1945, and has wholly owned the newspaper since. Anna Kaila Snellman, a contributor of the paper, visited Italy in the late 1930s as a guest of the Fascist government, and the paper was asked by the Italians to publish articles in favor of the Fascist rule.[7]

Hufvudstadsbladet has an independent and liberal stance.[8] It is owned by Foreningen Konstsamfundet Association[8] and is published by the KSF Media Group.[9][10] The group also publishes Västra Nyland, Östra Nyland, Hangötidningen, Borgåbladet and Loviisan Sanomat.[11]

One of the significant interviews published in Hufvudstadsbladet was with the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in December 1984.[12] In response to a question Palme stated that Swedish people would choose the Social Democratic Party in the next election due to the fact that it represented the traditional policy of neutrality unlike the other parties in Sweden.[12] His remarks caused tension in Sweden, and the Swedish paper, Svenska Dagbladet, republished the interview and argued that Olof Palme should resign due to his answer.[12]

In the Spring of 2004 Hufvudstadsbladet changed its format from broadsheet to tabloid.[13][14] In the same year it became Finland's tenth highest circulating newspaper.

In 2006 Hufvudstadsbladet was named Europe's Best Newspaper and awarded European Newspaper Award in the category of local paper plus.[13]

A weekly supplement called Vision (television and radio programming information) was distributed with the newspaper on Thursdays. From August 2006 to May 2010 HBL also published a full-colour weekly magazine called Volt with focus on lifestyle, features and photography. During its existence Volt was awarded more than 30 design prizes, much thanks to the visionary skills of AD Jesper Vuori.[citation needed]

In January 2014 Hufvudstadsbladet started a digital evening edition, HBL Kväll, which is updated daily at 4 pm.[11]

Circulation edit

In 1900 Hufvudstadsbladet had a circulation of 17,500 copies.[15] However, in the 1920s its circulation fell behind Helsingin Sanomat and the gap between them continued in favor of the latter.[15]

In 1996 the circulation of Hufvudstadsbladet was 59,206 copies.[16] The paper had a circulation of 36,719 copies in 2014.[17]

References edit

  1. ^ Här är han: Kalle Silfverberg ny chefredaktör för HBL. Hufvudstadsbladet 9.5.2023.
  2. ^ "Finland country profile". BBC. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  3. ^ Høyer, Svennik (2003). "Newspapers without journalists". Journalism Studies. 4 (4): 451–463. doi:10.1080/1461670032000136550.
  4. ^ The Europa World Year Book 2003. Taylor & Francis. 2003. p. 1613. ISBN 1-85743-227-4. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  5. ^ Bandle, Oskar; Braunmuller, Kurt; Jahr, Ernst-Hakon; Karker, Allan; Naumann, Hans-Peter; Teleman, Ulf (2005). The Nordic Languages 2: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages. Walter de Gruyter. p. 1487. ISBN 978-3-11-017149-5. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  6. ^ Fellman, Susanna; Leino-Kaukiainen, Pirkko (2006). "Business or Culture? Family Firms in the Finnish Media Business in the 20th Century". Scandinavian Economic History Review. 54 (3): 259. doi:10.1080/03585520600973618. S2CID 154070344.
  7. ^ Ferrarini, Fabio (2020). "'Mediterraneo baltico': Italian Fascist propaganda in Finland (1933–9)". Modern Italy. 25 (4): 398. doi:10.1017/mit.2020.51. S2CID 224888138.
  8. ^ a b "Hufvudstadsbladet" (PDF). European Association of Daily Newspapers in Minority and Regional Languages. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  9. ^ Jyrkiäinen, Jyrki (2009). "Newspaper Chains in Finland 1993–2010". Journal of Media Business Studies. 9 (2): 7–25. doi:10.1080/16522354.2012.11073541. S2CID 167749530.
  10. ^ "Hufvudstadsbladet". Publicitas. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  11. ^ a b Ørhøj, Lars (31 January 2014). "Record Readership for Digital Evening Paper". Visiolink. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "Swedish Daily Calls on Palme To Resign as Prime Minister". The New York Times. Stockholm. AP. 9 December 1984. ProQuest 196403. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Europe's most innovative newspaper 2006: De Morgen". Oberauer. 17 November 2006. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  14. ^ "From Broadsheet to Tabloid" (PDF). University of Tampere. January 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  15. ^ a b McRae, Kenneth Douglas; Helander, Mika; Luoma, Sari (1999). Conflict and Compromise in Multilingual Societies: Finland. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 315. ISBN 0-88920-347-4.
  16. ^ "Swedish in Finland". Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. 17 April 1998. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Circulation Statistics 2014" (PDF). Levikintarkastus Oy – Finnish Audit Bureau of Circulations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.

External links edit

  • Hufvudstadsbladet's website (in Swedish)
  • Office for Newspaper Design