A newly published book, Todenmukainen journalismi (“Truthful journalism”), gives an overview of the different factors contributing to, or detracting from, the truthfulness of modern journalism. The volume is edited and by large parts authored by Heikki Kuutti, of University of Jyväskylä.

Part of the book’s synthesis is a three-tiered model of journalistic content production. It is divided into acquisition of information, story construction and story publication. The process should include four crucial phases of critical reflection, the completion of which should lead to truthful journalism. None of these evaluations, however, are necessary for the completion of a story, Kuutti warns: a finished, published piece may or may not be truthful.

The book also includes a number of case studies conducted within the Finnish media sector. They include an overviews of: the effects of the Finnish law on slander on freedom of speech; the written and unwritten codes of conduct in Finnish newsrooms; the processes and guidelines to corrections in Finnish online newsrooms; the problems in the truthfulness of online journalism; journalism critique in online environment; and the truthfulness of PR.

Journalism Research News is hosted by the University of Jyväskylä; a JRN employee, Ville Manninen, has contributed to the book in question.