Jukka Niva

Short-term Scholar, Finland Scholar

Professional Affiliation

Head of News Lab, Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE

Expert Bio

Jukka Niva is the Head of News Lab of the Finnish Broadcasting company YLE. 

Finnish YLE operates four TV stations, six radio channels and a digital news service. Alongside The BBC, Finnish YLE is the most innovative among Public Broadcasters in Europe.

Within YLE, Niva has previously acted as Chief of Economics Desk, TV1 Business News host, acting Editor-in-Chief and Head of National News.

Niva graduated from the University of Helsinki with a major in the History of Politics.

Wilson Center Project

Newsroom 2.0: How Could Media Houses Monitor Digital Political Influence on Social Platforms?

Project Summary

Jukka Niva conducts research on ways media houses can build news desks that would make them able to monitor digital political influence on social media platforms.

Citizens should be aware of the ways social media platforms are used to sway their opinions. In the age of algorithms, it is more prevalent than ever before.

Political influencing is going from the physical world to the virtual world. Right now media is less and less able to show people how they are actually being governed; how peoples’ minds are affected through algorithms on social media platforms. At the moment, that sort of political influencing is almost completely un-transparent and widely beyond a journalist’s reach.

Niva is looking for the best ideas and practices on the tools and methods that news media outlets should utilize to get firsthand information on how people are affected when political actors use algorithms to sway citizen’s views.